


Fading Light

by reOkOe



Category: The Evil Within (Video Game)
Genre: Crime, Drugs, F/M, Mystery, OC/Canon, Romance, i hate tagging things, oc fanfiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-27
Updated: 2016-11-03
Packaged: 2018-03-09 07:40:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 70,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3241667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reOkOe/pseuds/reOkOe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>++++<br/>2 Years after the incidents at Beacon Mental Hospital, Sebastian is back on the job. His new case, at first glance nothing more than a drug crime, becomes more interesting as an old foe appears. Ruvik has taken an interest in the things that are just now starting to happen in Krimson City- will Sebastian find answers to questions that have been haunting him for the longest time now? Anything and everything could come from this but one thing is sure: If he wants to stay sane, when working with the former enemy, he needs the help of another trustworthy Detective. And he already has someone in mind...<br/>++++</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue (optional)

**Author's Note:**

> A/U fanfic set AFTER the games events.  
> Yes, I dont own anything apart from the OC and my imaginative powers.  
> Yes, there will be an OC, apologies, there will also be romance.  
> Yes, there will be Ruvik in Leslie's Body for the longest time. (spoilerhint omg?!)  
> Yes, I am a dork.  
> Yes, I suck at writing and this is my 1st attempt at a fanfic.  
> Yes, english is not my first language, be gentle.

Sally shivered. The cold morning air was cutting through the thin coat she wore and brushed against her slim physique. She’d forgotten to put on a shawl and left in a hurry when ‘he’ had finally answered her calls half an hour ago.  
Hadn’t been too excited by her call. In fact, he had sounded most displeased. Not that Sally had cared about that back then- she was desperate. She needed it. Badly.

Her heels clicked on the icy asphalt as she entered the subway passage they had agreed on as their meeting point. He was already there. A dark figure leaning against the chalked walls of the tunnel, unmoving and silent, like the rest of the town at this early hour.

It was 4:30am and they were alone.

Her eyes quickly scanned the surrounding area. Puddles of water dotted the ground, edges frozen overnight. The floor was littered with waste, wrappings of edibles, discarded trash, a single childrens glove. The usual, one might have said. What really mattered to her, though, was the man leaning against the moist concrete and so she made her way around the various obstacles, hastily closing the distance between them before she came to a halt in front of him. Her gaze upon the darkness that was his face.

Then, „God damn, are there any places worse than this one to sell that shit??“, she murmured under her breath, nervously. A split second after she had said it a rough, annoyed voice was heard, echoing from the chalkstone walls: „The cops don’t check here often, Princess. You know a better place for future meetings- you tell me, I am all ears! “

She squinted her eyes and stared into the darkness.

That had to be the guy people had told her about. The new one.

Fixxer.

An uncommon nickname. Even moreso, for a drug dealer…

The young man, whose question undoubtedly wasn’t fishing for an answer of hers, stood in the middle of the tunnel, leaning against the cold wall. She watched him, as he slowly raised a hand to tug on the shield of his dark baseball cap, pulling it deeper down into his face. A black scarf covered mouth and nose and she was unable to make out his eyes in the dark.

„Got the cash? “, he asked. The words, muffled by the thick scarf, barely reached her ears.

This was the moment she had been dreading the whole time. No. She did not have the cash. Still, she had come here and she did not plan to leave empty handed.

“No money, no deal, dolly. Don’t tell me you made me come all the way here at this ungodly hour for nothing.” He was getting impatient.

No money, no deal. How often had she heard those words, and how often had she proven the ones that had spoken them wrong. There were other ways to pay a debt. She was a woman- he was a man. And at the end of the day, all men were the same.

 

Chapped lips slightly parted, moist with saliva. She tilted her head and stepped even closer.

„Hey, please…. I don’t have that much, really!”, a nervous smile appeared on her face,” Can’t I pay you back…in rates? Or maybe…something else? Yes, yes!! Let me pay with something else…. “, shaky fingers crawled down the seams of his jacket and to the hem of his pants, tugging on the belt, „I could do something…for you….something nice…“

Loud noise boomed through the subway when a car drove towards the tunnel they both stood in.

The front lights only brushed past them for a second as it drove by but the light was enough to reveal his facial expression to her.

He looked down on the girl, eyes piercing, ice cold and full of disgust.

 

She didn’t think too much about it-didn't want to think about it, maybe he was just one of the slow type. Maybe….

Her hands moved up again, to his neck, while she pressed her freezing, shaking body against his unmoving form.

Shaking, from the cold and from the withdrawal.

He was nothing like the men she preferred, but that didn’t matter. It was not the first time she paid for her drugs in this way. And she needed a fix.

Fucking desperately.

 

Just as she was about to wrap her arms around him, considering herself victorious in her efforts, he sighed and roughly shoved her away. Dumbfounded, she stood there, while he pulled back the arm he had shoved her with to brush off his jacket in a demonstrative gesture. Like brushing off dirt.

„That’s not how it’s going to be, ok? Not today, not tomorrow, ok, is that clear, you cheap bag o‘bones? Lemme see how much you have and let’s get this over with! “

Frustration. Anger. Desperation. All of these flooded Sally’s mind now, mixed with the pain in her limbs and the embarrassment of being rejected by this man.

“Seventeen.” Her voice was a mere whisper but still loud enough for him to hear.

Laughter echoed through the tunnel. It climbed up the walls, came back, washed over them in waves, hollow and vibrating, as they stood in the middle of the underpass, face to face.

It sent chills down her spine. Yes, she had come bare. Seventeen Dollar was nothing. It wouldn’t have gotten her anything and she had known it.

Fixxer had leaned on the damp wall this whole time. He took a step away from it and straightened his back. He was big now, bigger than he had looked before.

Bigger and a lot more intimidating.

Sally took a step back, nervously, and inhaled deeply. „So what now… “, she pat out the words, not daring to look at him. This was his fault. He could have taken on her offer. But no, he had to refuse and now both oft hem had come here just to leave again with unfinished buisness. Yes, this was all his fault.

She wouldn’t have called him anyways if her other ‚friends‘ had answered her calls. Who was this guy even, thinking he was too good for her…

 

„Of course I could just send you home now - the more important question is: ‚Can you even make it there?‘ which I highly doubt when looking at you, kiddo…. “

The smile on his face, invisible to her, vanished as soon as it had appeared.  
She was ripe. Desperate, hungry, barely standing from what he saw.

Perfect.

Silence. Weeping. In the darkness of the lonely subway Sally had started to cry.

This had already taken way too long.

Time was the last thing he had. And he knew pretty well that she didn’t have time either. She was desperate and she needed something now to get her desolate body back in working condition.

All things summed up it was perfect. She was perfect.

Sure, he was disgusted by her very being- but all in all it couldn’t have been going any better for him.

„Listen…I can’t give you anything for less…. ‘specially not for what little you got right there. Ya know…I have to look out for myself too, kid. So, why don’t you try a little something else…just for now? “

He dug his hand into his pocket like before, only this time when he took it out again he was holding something.

Sally blinked a few times, unsure, then looked at what was between his fingers. A small blister pack filled with white, elongated capsules.

Her eyes widened. First with shock, then with suspicion.

„W-what is that? “

„Light. Don’t know it yet, huh? Didn’t think so, it’s completely new. Quite hard to find but cheap in price as it hasn‘t established itself on the ‚market‘ yet. “

He held the package, which contained only four capsules, under his nostrils as if he was trying to inhale some kind of sweet scent.

It crackled promisingly between his fingers and from the corner of his eye he could see her following his every move, like hypnotized.

„This stuff is good. Better than Acid or LSD and probably also better than Heroin or Meth. Of course, nothing you would know. Anyways…“, he brought the blister pack right in front of her face; „this is your lucky day, babe, because I have a whole bunch of these little fellas in my pocket. So, want some, or not? “

Sally hesitated.

She had never tried anything else than Acid, Heroin or Meth before. More importantly, she had no idea what this stuff was going to do to her.

 

And the number one question was still: what would it cost her?

 

„What exactly does it do, if it’s so much better than all the other ones? “

 

A smile found its way around the corners of Fixxer’s mouth and he simply shrugged while he stretched out his arms, fully aware of the fact that Sally’s stare was fixed upon the little object in his hand.

 

She was hooked.

And all that was left to do was to pull in the line now.

 

„Find out for yourself, kiddo! But let me tell you this: These little guys will give you their very own special trip. 100% unique. No other drug can do this. It’s….as if you throw in Meth, LSD, H and what have you in AT ONCE. Just, let’s say…less deadly!“

His grin grew even wider at his last words, almost getting lewd in its intensity.

He licked his lips while he waited for her answer, then he thought of something and hastily added: „And all of that….for the unbelievably low amount of 5 Dollar…! “

Eyes full of doubt Sally stared at him, „5 Dollar? “

 

She might have been naive and a little, no, a lot more desperate than usually, but not stupid.

 

Five Dollar. The price was indeed unbelievable. Ridiculous even, for a drug that was supposed to be so overwhelming in its effect. It just had to be a testing price.

Yes, it couldn’t be any other way. She was sure of it.

Depending on how fast Sally- and who knows how many others- would physically get addicted to this one and how fast the drug would get accepted as a staple on the local market, he would sell it to her at this low price for a few times. Then higher and higher like everything else.

That’s how it always went. And that was where it came down to the same strategy that all the dealers used. No one was giving things away for free here. 

 

She sighed and watched the white fog of her breath disappearing into the air around her. It was still cold and she wrapped her coat tighter around her frail body.

If she wanted to get through the day without any worse symptoms of withdrawal than the ones she was experiencing already she had no choice but to take on his offer.

It was the only thing she was able to pay for today and also the only thing he was offering her.

And if these things where as good as he claimed them to be….well then her money was more or less well invested at least.

For today. It wasn’t like she could expect more than that right now.  
Might as well take what you can get.

A last sigh, then: „Alright, I’ll take them…“

 

Capsules and money changed owners in the darkness of the subway.  
The girl stared at the unknown capsules in her hand while Fixxer slipped the money into the back pocket of his jeans.

 

Baited, lured and finally, trapped. It had almost been too easy. Like child splay.

Only one more thing to check off the list…

 

„Alright, princess! You have fun with your majestic meal and I am on my way!“, he turned around, ready to leave as she grabbed his arm: “H-hey wait a second! How am I supposed to…you know…take these?“

 

„Oh, right!, he snapped his fingers and came to a halt, „Almost forgot about that…“

God, this had been taking so long already- but the girl was right, it WAS important that she knew how to take them. He had almost messed up- good thing she wasn‘t THAT far gone yet.

„It’d be best you just swallow them as they are. You know, without water! If you can’t do that take a sip afterwards to get them down your throat- but not too much. Make sure you don’t bite on them or anything- you don’t want these to open in your mouth, you really don’t. Trust me. Else they won’t work, ok, got that memorized, kid? “

Sally nodded carefully, while her fingers played with the package, „I think so…“

 

„Good, good. I can leave you alone now, right?! Don’t party too hard- those aren‘t gummy bears ok?“

He could barely stifle a yawn to keep up his credibility.

Sure, the job had been easy, but annoying as hell too. One way or another, this had been the last package and he wouldn’t play the idiot and do boring work like this for Doyle again so soon.

Doyle, that bastard.  
That filthy rich bastard, who paid him absurdly well for things like this.

In the meantime he had turned around and left the underpass behind him, hands dug deeply into his pockets.

Twenty meters distance, then fifty.

When he was sure that she wasn’t following him and long out of earshot he pulled out a small, black mobile phone. Fixxer dialed the only number that was saved in the contact list and pressed it against his ear.


	2. Chapter 1: With gritted Teeth

The large double doors of the Krimson City Police Department swung open with a faint creak. Helen remembered the sound from two years ago- it had been the same noise when she had left, thinking she might never come back to this place.

Luckily for her, she had been wrong. The soles of her shoes clicked on the tiled floor as she passed the reception desk in the rather small entrance area of the edifice. Pin boards with missing posters, newspaper clippings and other documents were strewn over the walls. This city certainly had a lot going on. Lots of work for the people that had sworn to protect its inhabitants.  
She was now, once again, one of them and she had already promised to herself that she would do whatever it may cost, not to fail at it this time.

Fake marble and sparsely decorated walls were left behind as the young Detective entered the already waiting elevator. She knew where she was headed and so it didn’t take her long to find and push the right button that would set the lift in motion.

Third floor. Fifth door on the right. That was where she would meet up with her new team. New and old in a way. One of the names was all too well known to her.  
The other one did not fit to any face she remembered from back then.  
Sergeant Detective Castellanos was an old hand on the job. His no-shit-policy was just as well-known as his miraculous ascend of the ranks up to where he was now.  
From a simple officer to being one of the most admired Detectives in Krimson City. And at his age.

But then again. Here she was, also a Detective, too young almost to call herself that. And still – she took pride in what she was doing no matter what people might have been talking behind her back. And they sure as hell did.  
She gave the cardboard box in her hands a light shake. Under notebooks, files and a few other objects, her police badge slid in sight. The cold metal still looked freshly polished and shone in the cold neon light. Krimson City Police Department. Serve and Protect. A faint smile crept upon her lips and quickly mixed with a hint of bitterness in her eyes. Back then….

‘What would I give to turn back time. Just once.’

 

Helen was pulled back into reality as the elevators door opened with a ‘ping’ noise.  
The smell of dust, sweat and paper welcomed her and brought another wave of déjà vu with it.  
She loved it, had missed it dearly in those two years. Helen perked her ears while she inhaled deeply to savor the moment of coming back ‘home’. Voices and the sounds of fingers, swiftly dancing over keys, came from behind closed doors. People were already working on countless bigger or smaller cases at this time of the day. Lots of paperwork had to be done, lab results had to be examined and analyzed, people had to be questioned and information was to be gathered.  
Again, a smile spread across Helen’s face- only this time it stayed as she hugged the box in her arms a little tighter in pleasant anticipation of her new colleagues and the work they would do together.

Counting the doors to her right side she made her way across the lengthy corridor and knocked on the fifth one.

No response.

Helen waited a moment, unsure of what to do now. She turned her head left and right but no help was in sight. “Trying once more won’t hurt, I guess.”, she said to herself and raised a hand to do so but instead, just stared at her own fingers.

‘So pale. I should have gotten a tan this summer. People will think I just stepped out of Dracula’s Mansion like this.’

The woman shook her head and knocked a second time. Louder. ‘Silly, who cares what you look like as long as you’re good at your job? I’ll show them- just they wait and see. Hah- ’  
Still no response.

“Hello?” White fingers wrapped around the handle and pulled it down in an attempt to open the door. To no avail- it was locked.

Now, slightly unnerved, Helen stared the floor up and down in search of someone to help her. Maybe she was on the wrong floor? No, the sign beside the elevator clearly stated that this was indeed the third floor. She counted the doors. “Am I being dumb or…this IS the fifth door! Oh, come on…!”  
The young Detective set the box containing her belongings on the ground and stomped to one of the many doors that emitted sounds of working people. She knocked firmly and opened the door before someone could answer. “Hey—“  
Heads turned to face the sudden intruder.  
Tipping noises and talking stopped, now all attention lay on the person standing in the doorframe.  
“Uh…I…Good morning! Excuse me for interrupting your work like this but I am Junior Detective Helen Saul and I am looking for Sergeant Detective Castellanos. I was told to meet him and his partner in his office today but the door is locked…” The words spilled from her mouth like water from a fountain at first but got smaller and quieter by the second as she noticed a sudden shift in the room’s atmosphere.

‘Did I say something wrong…?’

Upon mentioning the name of her new team chef the others had turned their heads around again, resuming whatever they had done before as if nothing had happened at all.  
“Oh…kay…?”, Helen furrowed her brows questioningly at the sight of this behavior. She was about to retreat and close the door as one of the men cleared his throat. “The Detective and his…partner have just left to inspect a crime scene. The call came earlier this morning and so they went directly there. You might have more luck down at the reception if you want to find out where they are. Or you just wait… but god knows when they will be back.”  
With that said, he, too, turned his back on her.

For a moment she just stood there, baffled. Did they forget her? Had she been supposed to know where they went? And what kind of team was she about to join that made people react so strangely? ‘What a nice way to start off on my first day…’, she thought to herself cynically, closing the door after slipping in a halfhearted ‘Thank you’.

Now, what to do?

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The victim was lying on one of the grassy areas of the park, that were used as playing and picnic grounds in summer and spring. Had it not been for the man, who passed by in the early hours of the morning, she would have stayed unnoticed for maybe another day or two.

Sebastian was standing a good twenty meters away, a cigarette between his fingers and chipping off some ash, as he talked to the young officer, who had helped securing the area before he arrived.  
“Young, maybe in her early twenties, the man thought she was a sleeping drunk at first but then he turned her around….”

“Bet he wished he didn’t do that…Did he see someone else nearby?”

“No, said he was all alone and immediately called the cops. Guy was still shaking when we arrived here. We got his name and address from his papers so we sent him home. After we noted down what he had to say, of course.” The cop waited for a second as the detective took a last pull on his cigarette before throwing it on the ground and stepping on it. Ashes smeared across the asphalt and left a grey line in the dirt. “Uh, your partner, I am not sure if he should…” he gestured into the direction of the victims body, “I am not sure if he should touch the body that much. Is he…?”

A frown appeared on the Detectives face as his eyes followed the officers motioning. The young man kneeling beside the deceased female was not an official member of the KCPD. And much less did Seb consider him as his ‘partner’.  
It had been probably a month ago when all of this started. And maybe a few days after that HE had appeared. No explanations as to how he had magically convinced the higher ups to allow him in on the investigation. Surely just another fucked up trick involving messing with other peoples minds. Sebastian still hated him for what had happened a year ago and if he had been sure to get away with it - he would have killed this man on the spot, when he had suddenly stood in the doorframe of his office, that day.

He had taken interest in the case. Had said it was of personal importance to find out what was going on.  
Not a word about how he found out about the case. He was there, just like that, and Sebastian had had to accept his presence.

“I’ll go check up on that. You stay here and keep any unwanted spectators at bay.”, he turned and hesitated for a second, then he added, “Good work, Officer uh-”  
“Neilson!”  
“Yeah, good work, Neilson.”

 

With gritted teeth, he bent down to slip through under the police line and made his way over the wet grass.

 

Sickly pale hands ran over the victim’s skull. Searching for something, a small cut, an indentation, a scar, anything. The young man’s bony fingers ran over blood smeared skin and his purple tinted eyes inspected swollen tongue and blood-crusted teeth.

The dead woman on the ground was white, young, malnutritioned. Messy and unkempt hair was covering half of her face, hiding bruises and too much make up. A thin coat wrapped around the slim, painfully arched figure. Too thin to give shelter from the rough winter air, it might as well have been thrown on in a hurry. Her whole appaearance left no doubt about her lifestyle. She had been looking for something to ‘ease the pain’ as some might have called it. The face was caught in an expression of surprise, maybe fear. Eyes wide open in shock. Blood, already thick and dry, covering nostrils, mouth and ears. Hands clawing at mud and grass, stained with more dried blood and what seemed like littleclumps of dirt and something else... A few strands of hair, her own, tangled between the frozen fingers, told a story of what might have happened in her last seconds.

‘Just the same as the others. No, not quite the same…’

The white-haired boy shifted in his crouching position when he noticed the man that had come to a halt beside him. He rested his hand on the ground and merely nodded into his direction.

“This one is intact. It’s skull and eyes are untouched but the symptoms are the same as the other ones. They finally made the mistake I have been waiting for.”  
A satisfied smile curved his lips as he stood up and looked at the Detective.  
“Finally, we will find out what it is that is so special about the brain and eyes that they extracted all of them before.”

“If you think so…” Sebastian could clearly see just from standing there that he was right. The sight before him was barely different from the last nine victims they had found.  
“We’ll wait for the results of the autopsy until we hold judgment about that. Just because it looks the same it doesn’t have to be linked to the others.” He knew the other man was right. He was sure of it.  
And still…

“What a waste of time. As always. I could easily… ”

“We have to get permission by her relatives first- plus, do you seriously intend to cut her open in a place like this?” Disgusting. To think he was chained to this…freak, investigating yet another case that appeared to be linked to the events that had happened at Mental Beacon.  
The only thing that kept him going at this point was a sparse hope. A faint wish his heart hadn’t given up on even after all this time. If the same people were behind this, he still had a chance. A chance to find her. Or if not her- then, at least, some kind of closure.

Church bells rang in the distance. A signal for a beginning mass, maybe. Sebastian glanced at his wristwatch and let out a heavy sigh. “She is either still waiting or already left again. Wouldn’t blame her.”  
A questioning look from the side made him explain further. “I have ordered help. Another Detective to make this a complete team. Two is not enough. Especially since you have no rank or authority.”

“Another person will only make things more difficult. We have been fine up until now, Seb, we can manage perfectly well without inviting any more unwanted attention.” The albino’s expression showed clearly how displeased he was with Sebastian’s decision. Of course he was.  
Adding another Detective to the team also meant adding more risk of blowing his cover.  
But Sebastian hadn’t lied. They needed the help. HE needed the help. If not for the investigation- then to keep his own sanity from slowly crumbling away.

“You will just have to deal with her as I have to deal with you, ‘Leslie’.”

At the last word, his voice was dripping with venom, for he knew all too well what monster now resided in this body. An innocent mind had been erased, absorbed and replaced with something else.  
Eyes, once pure and full of hope now pierced through him with cruel intensity.

‘Ruvik’

Yes. He needed help. Another human at his side.

Without another word, the Detective turned around and started walking towards the waiting car.  
He didn’t have to look back to know that the other one was following him already.


	3. Chapter 2: A new Start

Crackle. Rustle. Crinkle.

Another page turned and, simultaneously, another deep sigh escaped the redhead’s lips.  
Brown eyes scanned the many rows and columns of offers. The red felt-tip pen circled yet another less than promising advert. “Sheesh! Would you believe me if I told you that I have been looking for a nice apartment for well over a week now? This city is awful…”

“A week is not very long….”, came the less than enthusiastic answer from behind the receptionists counter. Helen had decided to make use of the overabundance of time she seemed to have left before her partners would be back in the building. Equipped with a cup of coffee and a newspaper she had sat down on the entrance halls large leather sofa, ready to kill some time with a useful and much needed session of apartment hunting. “It’s winter. Not a season for moving in or out of an apartment.”

“Heck, had I known earlier that I would come back here, I would have started looking for a flat months ago. …or simply kept the old one instead of canceling the lease.”  
‘Or built a make shift home out of cardboard boxes near the KCPD’s building- everything is better than these overpriced, bug infested holes.’

The pen marked one more ad for a tiny flat with a huge lease. Helen took a sip from her coffee and peeked at the large clock above the receptionist’s desk. The hands moved painfully slow and Helen caught herself already cursing at her new team mates. They took so long! Gosh, how long could it take to inspect the crime scene, shake a few hands and nod in agreement at the few officers that had already done all the considerably hard work before? Not that long, normally.

More rustling ensued as the woman rolled up the thick newspaper she’d been working on for the last forty minutes.  
‘I should spank your butts with this –' The paper made a slapping noise as it hit her palm. ‘Yeah, have some nice old fashioned spanking from the Junior Detective, Castellanos!’  
“That’s what you get for making me wait!” Swishing noises were heard as Helen stood up and waved the Wednesday issue of the Krimson City Post with exaggerated force from left to right in front of her.

Swish.  
Imaginary butt spanking.  
Swoosh.

The thought of this little act of revenge made the female giggle to herself. A little too loud maybe, because an irritated cough from the receptionist eventually reminded her that she was not alone.  
Embarassing, yes, but not too much.  
“Hey— Uh, can you do me a favor, uh…”  
“Newman. Larry Newman.” The man behind the counter had straightened his back to get a better view of the girl. Thick glasses covered his eyes. With his high cheekbones and the pouted look of his lips he reminded her of a goldfish.  
“Oh alright then Larry, nice to meet you.”  
Goldfish Larry watched her as she gulped down the last bits of her already cold coffee; she pulled a face as she tasted the bitter sediments on the cups’ ground; and discarded the empty beverage into a nearby rubbish bin afterwards.  
“I think I have waited long enough- no one can say I didn’t try, eh? Alas—“

The newspaper under her arm and the box in both hands she strolled over to him.

“There’s stuff I have to get done. Can you tell Sergeant Detective Castellanos that I have been here and that he can call me whenever he gets back?” She placed the box on the counter and started rummaging through its contents. The badge appeared in her hand and she swiftly pocketed it, safely securing it in her jacket. Close to her heart. “Can you keep this for me?” Larry stood up and looked at the object reluctantly; then he looked towards Helen. More specifically, he looked behind her.  
Pouted lips curved into a smile. For a short moment she expected him to answer with an affirmative 'blubb'. But instead she heard him say: “Why don’t you tell him yourself?”  
“Huh?” The Junior Detective turned around just in time to witness the KCPD's doors opening to reveal said man enter…and with him, his more than a little peculiar looking partner.

“Saul!” The dark-haired man lifted a hand to greet her. “You’ve been waiting, right? Good to see you back here after all.” His handshake was warm and firm. “Yes, thanks. It’s good to be back. Feels a lot better than you’d imagine.” Her eyes lay on the young man that had entered along with the Detective.

‘Holy shit.’

“We’re in a hurry, so I’ll keep this short…”

‘Just…wow…really?’

“…Junior Detective Helen Saul, Leslie Withers- we can skip the get-to know-each-other games for now, if you don’t mind. There’s plenty of time for that in the car.”

‘Wait, what…?’

Helen had never seen one. Much less shaken hands with one. For most of the time while Sebastian had been talking she had stared at the white-haired person in front of her. Quite shamelessly, to admit that- but it didn’t really matter, since the boy had been busy inspecting the KCPDs large map of Krimson City, which was hanging behind the reception; displaying utter disinterest in the ongoing conversation. At the mention of his name, though, he looked at her.  
His gaze was piercing through Helen, hard to withstand, as he looked her up and down, judgingly.  
It was slightly discomforting, but Helen extended her hand nonetheless.  
This was her new start.  
Everything would be fine, no matter how weird it may feel in the beginning.

Everything would be fine- even if her new partner looked way too young, already seemed to be somewhat rude and was a frickin’ albino to top it all off! Ah, and there was still this thing with the missing Rank that Sebastian had successfully managed to swipe under the rug when introducing them.

‘A new start. Positivity, Helen! Be nice - receive nice.’

“I am already looking forward to working together!” She smiled at him, hand hovering in mid-air.  
The answer came fast. And without the slightest hint of a smile. “We’ll see about that.” Ignoring her gesture, he turned to the other man. “Satisfied now? We are running out of time – I suggest to get moving before our evidence starts rotting away under the hands of that dilettante pathologist.” Withers started walking towards the entrance again and only then looked back when he reached for the doors handle.

‘OH HE IS RUDE!’ Saul let her hand sink and looked at Castellanos, who, in turn, looked at Withers, sourly.  
The tension was almost thick enough to grab it. There was definitely something wrong with this team and Helen was not going to jump into the whole ordeal blindly.

“Uh – nice staring contest you got there going. I am ready to go if we must...well, almost.” She grabbed the box that had still been standing on the counter behind her. “There are a few things I’d like to know safe in the office…”  
“Leave them at the reception?” The Detective cocked an eyebrow at her.  
“Aah, I’d love to, but Larry said it’s better if we just lock them in now instead of later. Right, Larry?” The Goldfish dude was about to open his mouth but she mouthed a silent ‘no’ into his direction. It might as well had been an ‘o’, but he seemed to understand her just as well. He sat down and started typing something down, pretending to be very busy all of a sudden.  
'Guy needs to get an oscar.'  
“Sebastian?”  
The older man hesitated for a second. His gaze shifted from the young man at the doors to the woman beside him before he let out an exasperated sigh. There was something in the look she gave him that even her puppy dog eyes couldn’t hide. Something that allowed no negative answer.

“Fine. Let’s make it quick though.” Sebastian started making his way towards the staircase next to the elevator while he talked. The sound of the entrance doors opening and closing told him that Ruvik had no intention to join them on their way. Good. Every minute away from this guy was a gift from above. His foot touched the first step.  
“We’re not taking the elevator? I thought you wanted to make this quick?” She had followed him after watching the other leave.   
“Yes, we’re not going to take the elevator.”  
‘Ever.’

“Huh- okay…”

They climbed the stairs together. In silence.  
‘How do I do this…?’ Helen was wrecking her brain for a way to ask him about that Withers guy. Just not too pushy. Not too obvious. There had to be a way to let it slip into some kind of nice chitchat conversation. Something like: ‘Hey I like your shoes- what’s wrong with the albino dude in our team?’  
“Oh wow that’s bad…” Helen sighed at the thought of this.  
“What is it?” The Detective turned to look at her mid-step, causing her to snap out of her inner debate and almost lose her footing. Quick reacting prevented the cardboard box from falling and scattering its contents on the floor. Helen clutched the object close to her chest and cursed inwardly.  
And outwardly.  
“Frick! I hate stairs…what’s so bad about taking the elevator? Are you trying to lose weight or what?”  
“It’s…a personal decision.” He coughed and resumed walking. “And I wanted to give you a chance to ask those questions.”  
‘What.’ Her eyes widened. ‘You sneaky old man…!’ Taking two steps at a time she caught up to him and began to think once more.  
“We’re almost there, Helen, better act quick. We don’t have time to take a walk around the block so just get it off your chest.” Of course he had known it. He had known the second she had looked at him and he would bet his ass Ruvik had realized the same before he had left to wait outside.

“So…that other guy. What’s his rank?”  
“None.” He took a turn and she followed.  
“How come he is allowed into the investigation then?” ‘No rank? What kind of stupid joke is this?’  
“He is…”  
“…some whiz kid that has a deeper insight on the case than we have?” 'Like talking to dead people, seeing ghosts and reading minds huh?'  
“If you want to call it that.”  
“Should have known this thing had some kind of catch to it. I admit I was surprised to hear someone had asked for me to help on a case. And that immediately after I come back.” Had there been dirt- Helen would have kicked at it. This was all kinds of frustrating. This was not her new start. This was going to be a farce- some old Detective and some Wannabe-Sherlok kid as her partners, working on a case they probably had absolutely no chance at solving. The most disconcerning thing was the way Castellanos seemed to go along with this. Someone like him should know better.  
She remembered when she had asked those people about the locked office. Their reaction towards his name.  
Sure, he'd been through a lot of shit- but if he had become weird because of that....wouldn't the people in charge have...discharged him?  
“Unhappy with your new team?” He pushed the door open that led to the third floor. The female brushed past him, sighing. “Slightly. But at least I know why the others gave me weird looks when I asked for you before. I’d given me a weird look too if I had known. It’s pretty obvious that this is not going to work out. Why are you working with him? He is too young, he looks like he just came from high school. Civilians shouldn’t be allowed in on cases like this. I have read the files we have so far! I don’t know what you’re thinking but I bet this isn’t legal. ”  
“Legal, huh. You’re right- I asked for you specifically—“  
“HAH, yes you did.” The bitterness was clearly audible. “And I am starting to see why.”  
“That’s why you shouldn’t be asking too much. You’re in no position to question my actions.”  
The office door’s lock clicked as he turned the keys in it. She looked at him.  
“The judge decided I am innocent. I had no choice. They attacked first.”  
“I know what it says on the official documents, Saul.” He motioned for her to enter the room. Rows of file cabinets littered the walls along with shelves filled with books and folders full of documents. Sparse light shone through the blinds that covered the windows. They could hear the rain rastling against them. Three desks took up most of the space in the middle of it. Two seemed to be in use while the third one was left empty.  
Empty apart from a small name plate. White letters stood out on a black surface. ‘Jr Det. Helen Saul’. She placed the small crate on it and ran her fingers over the plastic object. Feeling the indentations that formed her name.  
This was hers. She belonged here, and she was far from giving up on it.  
“You don’t know what happened back then. You weren’t there.”  
“You’re right. No one knows. Except you. That’s why.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The rain had gotten stronger. What had been a slight drizzle just up until a few minutes ago had now turned into a steady downpour that hammered against the cars windows in a relentless offbeat rhythm.  
Ruvik placed a hand against the glass. He enjoyed the sensation. It was cold and smooth against his skin. He’d had this new body; this new life; for about a year now, but his triumph was still as fresh as on the first day. Being able to feel again. He could walk amongst others just like he thought he had craved all those years.  
Except that this desire had worn off surprisingly quickly when he had finally had the chance to do it.  
There were more pressing matters on his mind than to mingle with the broad masses of uneducated swine.  
He cast a stare up into the clouded skies. Decades had passed while he had been alone. Imprisoned in his own body. And later on, in his own mind. He still despised those that did this to him. And now that he was free again – he would hunt them down and make them pay for every single day, every cut and every thought they had took from him.  
‘They lost interest in me like a child loses interest in a toy that broke.’  
If they wanted to they could easily find him. He wasn’t trying to hide.

But apparently, they had started a new venture. They had shifted their gaze and now focused on a new project. Possibly tempering with the plans and theories they stole from him in another, even more twisted way than before.

He rubbed his temples and tried to focus on the task at hand. Now they had made a mistake.  
They had left their trash out in the open, carelessly.

His train of thought was interrupted as he noticed the Detective and the new woman leave the building. Working with them was a necessary evil but the woman’s looks left a significantly more bad taste in his mouth than he had expected. A mere glance at her had been enough to tell him that she would be nothing more than a nuisance. Young, inexperienced…distracting.

And sure enough she was already asking questions.  
Car doors opening, the sound of rain, the scent of wet streets and wet clothes.  
Ruvik leaned back as they entered the car.  
Sebastian entered the driver’s seat and started the car without a word. The side view mirror showed the woman sitting in the backseat, silently staring out the window. Something must have happened on their way here. Whatever it was, he didn’t mind the silence.  
The albino closed his eyes to shut out the passing city lights and smiled to himself.  
‘A storm is coming.’


	4. Chapter 3: Who's the coroner?!

It took them twenty minutes to get to the nearby hospital. No words had been spoken during that time and the atmosphere in the car had gotten more tense with every passing minute. At least, that was what Helen had thought. As they exited the car she caught a glimpse of Leslie's facial expression, which was what could best be compared to that of a kid, eager to unwrap it's Christmas presents.  
Such a wide, pleased smile had seemed impossible for him when they met earlier. As soon as she had seen it, though, it was gone again- gone with its wielder, who took no time to wait before he, once again, went ahead and climbed the entrance stairs of the hospital in long, confident steps before entering without them.  
"He's pretty eager to get to the body, huh?" The female watched the doors close behind the albino while she waited for Castellanos to lock the car. The rain was still pouring down and soaking into her clothes. She shivered inadvertently.

'A hospital. Great. A morgue. Fantastic.'

"He already knows his way around here. Not the first time we had a corpse in this case and most likely not the last time if you ask me." He stayed silent for a moment, seemingly trying to find the right words for what he wanted to say next.  
"...Helen, I wouldn't ask you to work with us if I thought lowly of you. Myra—… My wife held you in high regards. And I trust her on that."  
'Fuck.'  
Helen knew what had happened to Castellanos wife. She had known Myra. Not all too well- but good enough to know that they had been a happily married couple and kick ass awesome Detectives. Until the fire no one could explain. And until Myra had suddenly disappeared into thin air.  
Rumors had it that Sebastian went to lengths to find out what had really happened to his wife and child. And the way he had went about it…  
She looked at him through the rain. He was looking back at her; the look on his face asking for an answer to a question he hadn't spoken out loud.  
Maybe this wasn't the worst that could happen to her after all. Had she been thinking about leaving this team as soon as possible only seconds ago? Undoubtedly. But something had changed just now. Something big. Something important.  
"Well, thanks, I guess…" Helen tried to keep a straight face as she said it. She looked away as a smile started creeping onto her face. "Sheesh, we're getting all soaked up, huh…I bet even the dead in the morgue have it more cozy than us right now." she tried to divert the attention from their previous topic…and her face.  
Sebastian had rounded the car and gave her a crooked smile. This was a good enough answer for him.  
"Let's get out of the rain – I'll tell you about the latest victim on our way to the pathology."

Colored lines on the floor marked the ways to different wards in the hospital. The one leading to the morgue and also to the pathology was yellow. Sebastian had started talking while they walked and Helen had fixed her eyes on the line on the ground, listening intently as they followed their very own version of the Yellow Brick Road. Only that this one had no Wonderful Wizard waiting for them at the end.  
"…and that's why this one is so special. It could be the breakthrough we have been waiting for. Or completely unrelated – but as far as it seems, we're pretty sure we got something, finally." He just ended.

"So we've had a lot of mutilated corpses and nothing else until now…and this one is special because it's still in one piece?" The line on the floor took a left turn. Both detectives did the same.

"Basically. We also assume that the victims must have consumed something before their death. And all of them where known to be drug addicts. Brain, eyes and stomach of all victims have been removed in all former cases, so they didn't just die of a fatal dose. There's more to this than them just taking too much of whatever they needed to get their usual high."

"I get it. You think someone killed them. Considering they've been drug addicts I make a wild guess and say it's not for the black market. So what other motive could they have for taking their organs?"

"That's what we're trying to find out." Brushing a hand through his hair, Sebastian gave an internal sigh at the thought of possible failure. This was all they had for now- it better had to be something this time.

He came to an abrupt halt when they reached the heavy iron doors that marked the entrance to the hospitals morgue. Helen hadn't been keeping attention to anything else than their conversation and the yellow brick road line they walked on.  
The only thing that prevented her from crashing straight into the doors in front of her was the fact that mentioned ones where being opened the second they approached them.  
"I can't believe this! Again!? Who's the coroner here?! Me or— Detective Castellanos!"  
A small man, in his late fifties maybe, appeared in the opening. He stopped and stared at them. They stared back before the older Detective answered with an amused tone "I am pretty sure I am still no doctor…"  
"Ah, no, Detective…thank the heavens you are here!" The man was definitely relieved to see Sebastian. Helen watched the two of them shake hands. The face of the smaller one was still beet red and he continued fidgeting his fingers as soon as his hand was freed from Castellanos grip. He was as tall as he was wide and she wondered how he would be capable of doing his job without constantly tossing things off the tables and trays with his immense….belly.

"I was about to start the internal examination when he barged in! He practically threw me out— Out of my own mortuary! Could you believe this!? You have to put an end to this- I am so close to calling the security!" The overweight male put his thumb and index finger against each other to underline his he finally noticed the second Detective in the hallway.  
"Oh!Ooh!" His eyes brightened up. "Someone new? And such a delighting addition to your team at that!" He grabbed her hand and shook it, suddenly much less agitated than only seconds before. "Kugel is the name, young lady, wonderful, wonderful…"  
"Thank you very much for the warm welcome, Mr. Kugel. I am Junior Detective Helen Saul and I am new to the team, yes."  
He let go of her hand and just smiled at her for a second. Still a little too rosy around his cheeks.  
'Cute…and weird. What a way to make a 180 degree turn…' was her only thought when the silence between the three of them started getting awkward. Luckily Sebastian broke the quiet "So, how about we go inside?"

"Oh yes, yes, of course, naturally! Follow me, please!" Dr Kugel proceeded to waddle inside the mortuary again, already continuing to mumble and groan about the aforementioned intruder.

They stepped inside behind him and were instantly greeted by the coldness that was usual for a place like this. It didn't help that they were still wet from the rain and Sebastian silently cursed when he saw Saul's face drop at the sight before them.  
Ruvik was standing in front of the table. Sleeves lazily rolled up, he was already about to open the body to reveal its morbid contents.  
"Stop, stop, stop! Put that down immediately, will you?!" The coroner flailed his arms at the young man who held the scalpel and attempted to shoo him away from the corpse. With little to no success.  
With a few swift movements of his hand, the victim was cut open from the top of the sternum to the pubis. This was not the first time he had done this. Ignoring the now barely audible protest of Kugel, he started removing the internal organs he was interested in the most.  
His hands dug into the cold wetness of the victims flesh, shoving away tissue and lumps of already clotted, darkened blood. Gushing noises emerged from the raw opening and the room was slowly filling more and more with the heavy stench of blood. Metallic, sweet and, at the same time, salty. The cadaver gave a gurgling sigh as he took the entire gastrointestinal block out of it and placed it on a medical tray beside him.  
He would take a closer look at this one when he was done with the rest.

"Ru— Leslie…." Castellanos cleared his throat.

The one spoken to looked up from his work with slight annoyance. "Do you want to complain again? I am only doing what needs to be done- unlike him;" he gestured leisurely into the direction of Kugel, "I know what we are looking for."

"Look, I am just as eager as you to find out more, but this is not your job. If you don't step aside we're going to get in trouble…" The last words of his sentence trailed off into a slight mumble as he watched Ruvik take the scalpel again and make a small incision leading from behind one ear across the crown of the body's head to the other. He did know what they were looking for.

Just as the albino was beginning to pull the skin off the head and forward to reveal the skull underneath he heard a faint gagging noise coming from the other side of the table.  
'Right. The woman. ' He watched her pale face as he continued to strip the skin off the victims cranium. She was obviously not enjoying the view one bit and averted her gaze from the scene, turning to stare at the hand of the deceased female as if it was the most interesting thing in the whole morgue.  
'As expected…' Her great discomfort satisfied him in a way. It only showed that he had been right. Bringing another investigator into their team had been a bad idea. And he was already sure that she'd be gone again in only a matter of days. If not minutes.  
Ruvik focused on his work again. His hand found the Stryker saw on the medical tray carrying the autopsy tools. The small object started emitting a high pitched buzzing sound when he pushed the power button on it.  
He could almost feel the energy of it run through his fingers, through his arms and into his spine as he started sawing. The oscillating saw blade dug into the skull. Fine clouds of dust arose where the metal cut through bone. He would see it in a few seconds. It would lay its secrets bare in front of him. Naked truth, uncovered, unhidden. He was the one meant to find out and he would do so no matter what.

'Like a maniac. Like Frankenstein in the movies when he is about to pull the lever to electrify his monster…' Helen had seen autopsies before. Handled by pathologists, coroners, trainees even. She'd be up and out and reporting this little freak in seconds if Seb hadn't gotten rid of her doubt so well earlier. So this was what she would have to expect from now on if she wanted to work with them.  
'Are you kidding me? He is basically ripping the poor thing apart, no comments, no notes no examination. Just some idiot getting off to digging his bare hands into a corpse…although, apart from being silent and ignoring the basic hygiene…he is doing it like any other trained med.'  
She felt the doubt well up inside her again but decided to ignore it. Myra had held her in high regards, he had said. He wouldn't have asked for her if he had thought lowly of her, he had said. What had sounded so heartwarming and had actually made her feel proud and accepted only minutes ago…now fell a little flat when being confronted with the harsh reality that was this disastrous team.  
Her thoughts went back to the other guy, Leslie.

The look in his eyes worried her more than anything else. Intense, ecstatic, as if this was a matter of personal gain. Amusement had been added to this disturbing mixture when he suddenly looked straight at her, his hands still pulling on a clout of skin. Too much. Any more of this and she would throw up on the spot, which was, admittedly, not what she wanted to do right now. She tried to focus on something else just to avoid the embarrassing act of emptying her stomach in front of everyone else. She scanned the area, ready to fix her stare on just about anything that would be easier to look at than that. The victims hand caught her attention. It was dirty and bruised, or initially it seemed to be. At closer inspection, the blood-crusted nails and fingers weren't the most interesting thing on it after all. What really stood out to Helens eyes was the blueish smudge on the back of it. It was hard to recognize at first, but this was definitely some sort of ink. A picture. Stamped on and then halfway washed off again. A crescent moon lying on its side with the opening showing upwards. Colored letters under a thin line made up a word. But she couldn't yet decipher.  
'Is….Isc…..t'

"Dr. Kugel…" The coroner was still fidgeting and lamenting behind the table while he helplessly watched the young albino work in his place, too scared to approach the man that was using the sharp and dangerous instruments with undeniable expertise. He hesitated taking his eyes off of what was in front of him to answer Helen. "Uh, yes, Detective, how may I help you?"

"You didn't happen to finish an external examination on the victim's body before we arrived, have you?"

Instantly practically beaming with joy, Kugel weaseled around the table and fished a small clipboard from one of the shelves that lined the wall behind Helen and Sebastian.  
"Ohohoo~ of course, what else would I do before opening the body! Following the protocol, a coroner is to first examine the body from the outside before taking a look at the inside!" He threw a sideways glance at the man behind him, who was just now removing the corpse's cranial vault. "Any real medically trained person would know and follow this rule. It is our law!" he exclaimed energetically, slamming a small fist against his quite immense chest.  
Then he started flipping through a number of pages that were already littered with notes, numbers and small annotations. "Let's see…..here!" He handed her the clipboard and stepped a little closer.

"Sally Artis…" Sebastian had also bent into their direction to get a look at the files. He murmured the name to himself before he leaned back and watched Ruvik again.  
"So they finally got her name. What about her address? Did you find anything in her pockets when you got her ready for the examination?" He didn't even flinch when he saw the scalpel cut through the soft and mushy mass that was the victim's brain. He'd seen worse.

"Ah, what am I? A coroner, not a pickpocket! I noted down what I took from the body and put everything in a box. If you want to put your hands into her coat you will have to do so yourself, yes! The only reason I got her name was that her…eh…" the well rounded man was blushing as he said this, "well, her ID fell out of her…underclothing."

The redhead at his side gave a small snicker at this. She had skimmed through the notes and now lowered her hands holding the clipboard. "So she suffocated…but neither her throat nor her tongue is swollen? What made her stop breathing then?"  
Dr. Kugel turned to face her again, still red faced but obviously pleased to be able to explain something to her. "Oh, nowhere did I say that the poor child suffocated! Of course, I noted the usual signs of lack of oxygen and marks of suffocation down that were apparent on the body. But that was not the reason she died, no, not at all, my dear, it was completely and utterly different from that! You see, her tongue and throat are not swollen, but these red spots around her eyes and on her cheeks?"

"The answer is quite simple. Her heart stopped beating."

Everyone turned their heads to the young man, who was standing, scalpel still in hand, before the brain he had sliced into twelve identically thick pieces. Twelve layers, exposing everything, from the Frontal Lobe to the Thalamus, to the Cerebellum. The cerebral mass was laid out in front of them, piece by piece. It shimmered glossy. Still wet from the spinal fluids it had been surrounded by only minutes ago.  
"The limbic system is virtually destroyed. The abuse of drugs that stimulate dopamine neurotransmission is known to cause deterioration on this part of the brain. But it would not cause something like this." He pointed at various spots on the different segments before him.  
All of them showed darkened areas. Some of them were almost black while others still had little specs of color on them: a deep, lush red.  
"It was just part of the reason they had an easy victim in this one."  
He gestured at a few of the bigger splotches and continued to speak while he did so.  
Helen followed the motion of his pointing finger and stared at the moist mass of glia and nerves. Her mind, however, was stuck on something different.  
'They'  
He had said it as if he already knew who had caused this.  
It was only normal to follow every hint and small detail before taking judge on assumed suspects. But nowhere had it been stated in Sebastian's files that they already had a major lead in this case.  
'So, who is he talking about? Who are 'they' and why has no one told me about 'them' yet?' She created a mental note about this and tried to concentrate on what was being said again.  
'Just another question I can add to the heap of todays unanswered mysteries, I guess…'

"Ruptured aneurysms. Seventeen, ranging from nine to fifteen mm in diameter. The radical influx of fluid led to a high pressure and to insufficient blood supply on the brain itself. The 'victim' experienced severe pain, comparable to that of a migraine. Only excessively more intense." A weak smile flashed over his face and he paused.  
'It doesn't matter how I phrase it. None of them can even remotely imagine the level of pain this must have caused.'  
Sebastian did not see this smile although he might have been the only one being able to read the meaning of it at this time.  
The Detective stared at the dark blotches, remembered the blood and hair between the girls fingers. She must have torn off hair and skin in her desperation.  
"The extreme headache is a common symptom of an aneurysm, usually accompanied by drowsiness, loss of sense and direction, a blurred vision and malfunction of the nervous system."  
She must have tried to get somewhere safe and ended up on the green area. Lost, confused, blinded and weak like a shot animal.  
"With the number and size of these aneurysms she most likely fell into a coma or suffered a stroke. Her organs shut down one by one, including her heart, which ultimately resulted in her death. Either way, the bleeding in her brain destroyed tissue and synapsis at a high speed. Whatever did this was designed to take an immediate effect on limbic system, Broca's area and the brain stem."  
He pointed at said parts of the brain and it was clearly visible what he meant. They were all practically covered in aneurysms.  
'Emotion, communication, control over basic vital functions.' Ruvik was trying to piece together what he had found, but as it was, he couldn't make sense of it yet. The damage done to the brain couldn't have been intentional, he figured.  
'The stomach. If I can find out what has caused this I will be able to tell what they wanted to achieve with it.'  
The scalpel was sharp. It cut through the intestine with ease and after only moments the remains of whatever Sally Artis had eaten in her last hours came into view. There it was. In a puddle of bitter smelling acidic fluids and a few bits of what appeared to have been parts of her last meal.  
Almost see-through, partly dissolved, yet still remarkably well conserved.  
"A capsule! You don't see that very often when it comes to drugs, no, not at all if I may say so…maybe she had an overdose on some medicament rather than a stimulant, hm?" Dr. Kugel had remained silent for a while but now he was making himself heard again. "As a renowned and experienced coroner I can tell what—"

"You tell me." The albino crossed the room and began scrubbing his hands and arms with a disinfection soap under the cold water of a nearby sink. The red foam that built up became brighter and brighter until it was pure white and vanished into the drain. A capsule. But what had been inside?

"—I can only tell what the naked eye can see, young man." The corpulent man now ended his sentence with a snarky tone. "You'd have to send a sample of it to the hospital's laboratory and have it analyzed there."

As soon as he had said this he was met with an ice cold stare. The fact that it was paired with a smile didn't help the least bit. This smile was cruel. Threatening. It was filled with the morbid curiosity of a hunter facing his helpless prey. Triumphant and playful. They all saw it- but it was directed at Kugel only. Helen felt as if she had been pushed into ice cold water. It sent shivers down her spine and left her awe-struck at the aura of potency he emanated through it. If it had such an impact on her, what would it feel like for the Doctor? She couldn't see his facial expression from where she stood and his body wasn't moving.  
One second passed, then another.  
Just as she was about to say something, to end the silence, it happened.

"O-Of course I can do just that for you! As well as, ugh… cleaning up and closing the body and, and…"  
The man was practically wheezing when he said this, as if it caused him physical effort to speak up at all. He cleared his throat and started fidgeting his hands like before.

"Good."  
The Junior Detective watched Leslie nod slightly and then walk to the mortuary's door. Apparently, her white haired partner had decided it was time to take their leave now. No objections to that. The last thing Helen wanted was to stay even longer in the presence of the dead. She grabbed the box Dr. Kugel had filled with the clothes and items he had taken from the corpse.  
The little man looked a bit confused when the woman thanked him and shook his hand good bye.  
She went up to the door too and turned around. "Sebastian?"

The Detective was looking at the dead woman on the table. "What about her eyes?"  
"They were bloodshot and dulled because of the brain damage. That was the reason they had taken them from the others." Ruvik pulled the door open and was taking a step outside when the woman beside him put a hand on his shoulder. "Leslie." He frowned and looked at the hand that was touching him. Then at the woman it belonged to. "What is it?"

"I think you have a nosebleed."


	5. Chapter 4: Ignore her

Of course they had to leave the box with Sally’s earthly possessions at the hospital after all.  
A forensics scientist would have a go at them and look for fibers and fingerprints on the smaller items and pieces of clothing. That was, if there were any left. The weather hadn’t been working in their favor this day and it was still raining when they departed from the hospital, empty-handed. This left them with nothing more than the list the coroner had written down when he stripped everything off the corpse.  
Now everyone was working on their own, more or less quietly. Helen pondered about this. Normally, they would have sat down, talked about the things they uncovered, made plans for what they would do next. But none of this happened. Then again, what was normal in this team? She had stood in front of her desk for a few seconds, just watching the two men in her team.

Leslie buried himself in tons of books immediately after they had arrived at the office.  
Probably for the better.  
The only times he had opened his mouth so far hadn’t been all too pleasant. The boy looked like an angel, sure, but his behavior, and the way he talked to other people, proved that he was a book you wouldn’t want to judge by it’s cover. She decided not to ask him about what exactly he was trying to find in ‘Behavioral and Cognitive Neurology’, ‘Neuroanatomy’ and other books with similar titles. He hadn’t looked too happy when she had told him about his nosebleed earlier just wiped the blood off with the back of his hand and left her standing there. Leaving people behind and being a dick in general seemed to be normal for him. Teamwork with this guy would be ‘oh, so much fun’…

Sebastian was busy chain-smoking and making calls to the lab and other people while he sifted through the files that lay scattered on his desk. He also didn’t look too approachable at this very moment.

Still somewhat clueless about the whole thing, Helen simply starting sorting through her own belongings and set up her work place as best as she could for now. Putting various things into the drawers of her desk and neatly placing notebooks, small guides and pencils where they would come in handy at a later time…maybe. It helped her thinking clearly. Something just wouldn’t click yet. Something she had seen, back at the morgue then, was still spooking around her head. It was just about out of reach. So close, yet so far… maybe organizing her office equipment would help her organize her thoughts, she told herself.  
The redhead was just about done when she heard Sebastian curse like a sailor. The detective jumped from his chair, nearly throwing it over in the process and left the room in a hurry. The sound of the door slam shut was almost enough to make her jump. Almost. 

“What was that?” She plopped down on her chair and turned around to face the Albino. He hadn’t even looked up from what he was doing.

“We will know soon enough if it is related to the case.”   
“I guess. He could have said something, though.” Helen bent down and pushed the power button of the desktop computer. ‘Now it’s just you and me, sunshine.’ At least she finally remembered what it was that had been bugging her ever since they had left the coroner. There was something she needed to verify - and she was almost sure she was right with her assumption, after a quick look at the list of the victim’s stuff. She leaned back and waited.

Silence.

And not just the awkward silence of them not talking. The female Detective had expected the quietness to sink in once Castellanos left the room. She had been listening to his phone calls with half an ear. It was enough to feel comfortable while she was busy herself.  
Now he was gone and it had become completely silent in the room, except the sound of turning pages every once in a while.

It was too quiet. Way too quiet.  
‘But not because no one’s talking…’

Helen bent down once again and tried pushing the power button a second time. Nothing.  
“Great. No power.” She got off her chair with a whispered sigh and crouched down under the desk.  
A thick layer of dust greeted her.  
Whoever was in charge of keeping this office clean was not doing their job very well. Fighting off the urge to sneeze, Helen crawled deeper into the depths of under her table. The power cords had to be somewhere close.  
‘Ugh- let’s see….’ It was dark down there. As if filling her lungs with the collected dirt of aeons and aeons wasn’t bad enough; the darkness sure added to the experience. She blindly searched until her eyes adjusted to the sparse lighting. Checking the backside of the tower revealed it to be connected to all the important cables. All of them but the power cord.  
Grumbling to herself she started looking for it in the tangled heap of cables that lay before her. More dust soon covered her hands and left a powder-y feeling on her fingertips. ‘It’s not here…’  
Helen was still crouching under her desk like a bunny in its rabbit hole. She let her gaze wonder for a bit, too lazy to stand up again. Too stubborn to admit defeat against modern technology yet.

Shoes. Men’s shoes. Black. Expensive looking.

Right, Leslie’s desk was right beside hers. Facing the wall to her left, it was just close enough to prevent anyone from slipping through between both of them.

He was still reading, it seemed. The young man was sitting in his chair, legs crossed, and completely unaware of the woman under the table that was just now staring at his footwear absent-mindedly.

Staring at his footwear. And then his calves.

The female envisioned his features once more. The white hair and the exceptionally pale skin. Clear eyes with long lashes and that distinct hint of purple color that she had never seen before. Full lips and a straight nose. If it wasn’t for the serious look in his eyes and the almost constant frown, he would have looked just like a child. How old was he anyways? He had the slender figure of a teenager, the face of a kid and the mind of….of what?  
She pouted. ‘It’s day one, Helen, you’ll have time to find out what it is about this boy…young man…young…man…’

Her unwitting stare had been fixed on the fabric of his jeans but started wandering now once more. Further up. To his knees. And then…

The sound of turning pages. Hands brushing over paper to flatten the surface. The albino sighed almost inaudible, shifted in his seat and moved his legs, revealing full view on the area between them.

THUMP

“Owww…ugh...Whatever, whatever! I don’t care, ok?!” A pencil rolled over the desk and fell to the floor after Helens head had violently made contact with the underside of said piece of furniture. She rubbed her skull in an attempt to soothe the pain. This would definitely give a nice little bump.  
‘That’s what you get for staring at your ‘you-don’t-even-know-if-of-legal-age’ partner’s crotch!’ Fucking focus, Helen, focus.’

“Is there something I can help you with?” The offer would have sounded much more inviting hadn’t it come in a slightly irritated and annoyed tone. Leslie was looking at her, eyes squinting to make out her cowering form in the darkness that lingered beneath the tables. The sound of her not-so-glorious impact with the solid wooden panel just now must have interrupted his reading.

“Uh—“  
‘EMBARASSING!’  
“Uh—“

Her face beet red; she tried to find words. ‘I did not just stare at you like some pedo, I SWEAR.’ Thoughts running wild behind her eyes, Helen just stared at him blankly for a few seconds.

‘Ho, wait, he can’t possibly know what I was doing down here, right? That blow to the head just now already shows some results, huh? Stupid… Think, Helen, think!’

“Uh—“

She could practically watch his patience diminish. Who could blame him though? He offered help, albeit reluctantly, but still, and all he got in response was stuttering and blank stares.

‘The power cord!’ Of course, what answer could be better than the simple truth? She had come down here to find the cable, not to stare at …things.  
He was already getting up again when she opened her mouth at last. “The computer- I need power, but it doesn’t seem to be connected. Can you see the cord?”

He got off his chair and in no longer than two seconds he had found the sought after item. She watched him plug the cable into the computers tower. Inwardly still cursing at herself.  
‘He descended gracefully and solved all the problems…and you had nothing better to do…’

“There.” He looked at her, briefly. Then at the floor. Did he avoid her eyes?

“Thank you.”  
‘Maybe he is just all tough words…?’

Both of them surfaced from underneath the tables and sat down again. Helen pushed the power button and noticed with relief the slight humming sound that now emitted from the machine.  
She leaned back and waited for it to start up properly. Her eyes found Leslie again. He had resumed his former activity. Nose close to the pages he was sitting hunched over at his desk, totally immersed in whatever it was that he read. Had she judged him too quickly?

“So…”, she started.

His gaze shifted subtly. He listened. 

“Are you feeling better?”

“What makes you think I haven’t been feeling well?” He didn’t care to look up at her. She was obviously trying to engage some sort of small talk. All under the premise of ‘getting to know each other’, he presumed. Ruvik rested his index finger on the paragraph he was reading. Why even answer her? Yet, he had.

“Your nosebleed earlier. Does that happen often?”

The nosebleed. Of course. He had allowed himself to get carried away by his own feelings. The evidence they had found today had opened more questions than answers. Still, he was certain that Mobius were those behind it. They had to be. What did they want? What kind of chemicals did they use on the brain of that woman and what was the desired effect? He had gotten too excited. Impatient even.

And then he had done it.  
Invaded the thoughts of this old man just to mold his mind into taking his orders willingly. He shouldn’t have gotten so incautious. Back when he had opened the gates to this new plane of consciousness- he hadn’t known that he would be able to partly apply them out of his own creation.  
It turned out that the years of imprisonment had helped him develop a level of control that was beyond the norm.

And beyond the limits of his new physical body.  
The nosebleed was one of the signs that he needed to use these abilities carefully. And sparsely. Leslie’s body had always been in a bad shape. Years of neglect and abuse left their scars on this shell and made it more vulnerable to its environments.

Ruvik had come to terms with this. It was still a body worth much more than the hollow, numb husk he had lost long ago. And also much better than the sphere of glass and metal that had held his mind in confinement for so many years.

But this new one wasn’t fit to execute what his mind was capable of.  
Body and mind were out of sync. He should have expected this.  
Just like he should have expected the nosebleed.

He hadn’t even noticed it before she made him aware of it then. Manipulating this weak-minded Doctor had been one of the easier tasks. Paving the way for his work with the Detective had been a much more complex hurdle. Agonizing pain and nausea had only been two of the after effects that had been part of the price he had paid when using his powers for that.

“I am fine. Don’t think about it.”

“If it happens more often you should see a doctor.” She paused for a second, then added “How old are you, Leslie?”

At this, Ruvik sat up straight. His finger was still placed on the same paragraph.  
“….28.” The answer hadn’t come immediately and Helen was almost sure she had seen him hesitate for a split second, as if he had to think about his answer before giving it.

“28?! You don’t look that old at all! So what are you doing? Besides…this.”  
‘Studying, working, pulling a Sherlock Holmes or…’

He looked at her now. The questions. There they were. He had told Seb that this would happen, but that fool wouldn’t listen to him. Now they had another nuisance to carry with them. And this woman wasn’t even adding anything of value to their team. So far she had asked a few simple questions and watched them as they worked on the case.

Unfortunately, she had proven that she had no intention of leaving them so soon, making herself at home in the office. The prospect of seeing this woman every day, being forced to deal with not only one person around him but now a second one also, he had two options.

Get rid of her himself or ignore her as best as he could.

The former was undoubtedly tempting in many ways.  
For the sake of his progress, and to keep his much needed and surprisingly helpful ally amused, though, he would have to go with the latter option. Ignore her.

“I will continue reading this now. And I am sure you also have work to do.”  
Simply looking at her should already be straining his eyes.  
Fire.  
Fire in her hair. Fire in her eyes.  
The way they reflected the light made them look like gleaming ashes.  
It should.  
‘Ignore her.’ He shook off the thought that was beginning to form in his head. He didn’t even want to think about it.  
A distraction, nothing more. A nuisance.

“I appreciate the effort you put into ‘lighten up’ the mood, but I am not interested in sharing any more of my personal information with you. Or learning about yours.”

This being said, he turned to his books again.

Dumbfounded by this blunt rejection, Helen opened her mouth. Then closed it again. Where there any words she could use to describe his behavior? Definitely. But none of them had the intensity or impact she would have needed to express her immense distaste at this situation.  
Then again, it was most likely her fault. She had stared at him and felt bad about it- then he had helped her and she had come to think that he might not be so much of a butthead after all.  
Of course she had been wrong.

“Fine.” Helen had trouble controlling her tone; the snarl in her voice was audible.  
‘Oh, so much fun….indeed.’

A short window on the screen before her prompted the user to type in a username and a password.

‘Huh…oh, yeah…the computer.’ The Junior Detective fumbled in the pockets of her pants for a second. A thin strip of paper held the information she needed. Larry Newman, the goldfish receptionist, had given it to her this morning with the advice to change the password once she had logged in.

Right now it was a randomly generated, jumbled mess of numbers and letters.

‘I’ll definitely change this…later.’ The piece of paper disappeared into her pocket again.

She typed and hit enter, then cringed at the light blue background and the interface’s outdated look.

‘And I’ll also change this…later. But for now…’

The desktop was almost empty and so she found the application she needed pretty fast. Helen let the cursor hover over the browser icon and double-clicked. The outdated look of the computers interface was deceiving.

The window popped up immediately and Helen was only able to finish typing when the office door opened.

Sebastian had come back from his short absence. The slightly pleased look on his face turned into a more than slightly displeased look when he noticed that both inhabitants of the office glared daggers at him.  
He was used to Ruvik’s stare. What really concerned him right now was the look Helen gave him. It ranged from everything between ‘Where did you go to and why?’ to ‘People will die if you dare leave me again…’.

Well, as bad of an idea leaving these two alone could have been, what he had brought with him should be good enough to lift her spirits again.

“I was at the lab just now.” Expectant looks from both of them washed over him. “They’re not done with the sample and the clothes yet…but I got this.”  
The man walked closer and threw a photo on the woman’s desk. It showed a wrinkled piece of plastic. “The officers we left at the crime scene found this a while after we left. Take a closer look at it.” He nodded at the albino, who in turn stood up and inspected the picture.

“A blister package.”

“They found it near an under passageway at the station. Her fingerprints are all over it. And ones of another person we have yet to identify. Male, most likely white. Five feet, nine inches. That’s all we know for now.” He tossed a CD on the table. “Security cameras. We don’t know what happened in that passageway, but we can assume from the time they both came and left that they most likely met there to make a deal.”

“So you got the guy on camera? Shouldn’t take long to close the case then.” The redhead leaned back and crossed her arms. ‘Easy. Boring.’

“Don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched, Saul. His fingerprints don’t match any of our records. There’s still some work to do.”  
‘But still – it seems as if this is just a normal drug case after all…or not?’ Castellanos looked at the albino. He seemed to be in deep thought, still staring at the image on the desk.  
“What do you think?” He asked him now.  
A pale finger tipped on the Polaroid. “This looks familiar, doesn’t it?”

Both detectives bent closer to take another look at the picture. The plastic was wrinkled and dirty. The foil that had covered it and kept the capsules it had contained safe was now torn and ripped off in most places. A word repeated on the aluminum over and over again. It was barely readable in most cases but the albino’s finger rested under the one that was almost completely intact.

‘LIGHT’

Helen tilted her head. “Ok…so? Whatever it was - it’s called ‘LIGHT’, ok. Do we know that this is the one she dropped?”

“Yeah, we got that on camera as well…” The older detective murmured while his eyes fixed on the photo. It could have been a misprint. Or rubbed off, or washed off by the rain…

‘Or it’s intended to look like that.’  
He forced himself to look into Ruvik’s face. A bitter smile curled around the man’s lips.  
‘He’s thinking the same…’

The T was incomplete. The horizontal line was cut off halfway. Both of them knew what it resembled.  
It could be a misprint.

Or it was proof of Mobius being behind all this.

“Haah- ok, so we know she got it from some bloke near the station. Anything else?” Looking at them both being so hypnotized by that picture made Helen a little nervous. Was there something about it she missed? Ok, sure, the name of the drug was new, but the name alone couldn’t be so important, couldn’t it? They could have named it ‘Sweet Dreams’, ‘Mega-Ecstasy’ or ‘Superdupermegauber-Kills-Upon-Consumption-Pill’ for all she cared.  
It was still a drug, right?

And a pretty dangerous one at that.

“Uh, yes, one more thing, and also the next thing we have to check.” Sebastian could barely tear his eyes from the blister package. “I took a look at her stuff while I was at the lab and the girl must have been partying the night before she died. Her clothing suggested it…her make up too, when we found her.”

“Her insides were reeking of alcohol.” The young man added.

‘The stamp! I was right!’ Helen gave herself an imaginary pat on the shoulder.

“Dr Kugel found a stamp on her hand.”

Sebastian had said it. And before her. “It’s from a popular nightclub in town. As long as we don’t know who this dealer is, we should try to find out how he got his clients. As most of the victims were young, it is quite possible that they also frequented this club.”

“And if they share this connection it might lead to the root of all this trouble.” Helen added with slight frustration. This was her lead. She had seen it first. Not fair.

“Exactly. We will go there and look for more information.”

“What is the name of this nightclub?” Sebastian looked at Ruvik, who had just asked this question.

Helen scrolled through the results of her online search. Her mouth silently formed the name of the nightclub as Sebastian enunciated it.

 

“Iscariot.”


	6. Chapter 5: ISCARIOT

“You got your ID with you?”  
“Yes.”  
“Good. I bet they’ll ask for it.”  
’28, my ass.’ The young detective rolled her eyes and tugged at the hem of her short black dress for the, what seemed to be, 400th time. Wearing ‘sexy’ clothes like this made her feel uncomfortable. At least when out in the open. Back in the hotel room it had looked fine, perfect even, but right now in front of the nightclub and amidst dozens of other people Helen couldn’t help but feel as if she was being stared at.   
‘At this rate I’ll be busier checking out my own butt than the people in the club.’  
She looked up at the bright neon sign above them. It stood in clashing contrast to the exterior of the building.   
A gothic church with high arched windows and gates. Sharp edges and countless towers of varying sizes decorated the façade together with menacingly looking gargoyles. Pulsating light broke through the richly ornamented stained glass windows. They were of the same color as the neon sign, that formed the name of the club they were about to enter.

ISCARIOT. 

The nightclub’s name was shining down on the waiting crowd and bathed them in bright scarlet light. 

Helen looked down and to her partner again. Leslie was dressed in a simple white button up shirt and a pair of black pants. A little too formal for a visit at this kind of place maybe, but Helen didn’t mind. His attire was much more pleasing to look at than the usual ripped skinny jeans and loose muscle shirts youth around here deemed fashionable. No matter how she looked at it, the albino was surrounded by an air of superiority…no, dignity, maybe?   
‘Must be his unicorn status. Or his elven prince fairy dust flair.’ She thought to herself. ‘I just hope we fit in well enough to stay undetected. Oh Sebastian…what were you thinking?’   
It was just the two of them tonight. Well, actually not. Sebastian was listening in on everything they said via a small hidden device clipped to Helen’s ear.  
A slightly crackling static sound now and then reminded her of its presence.

“You know, now that we’re here, I do see a few guys your age. Why don’t you join us and play the sugar daddy for a while?” , she said.

More static. Then the Detective answered. “I am fine right where I am. Also, it’s easier to stay ahead of the situation if one of us stays outside for backup.”

“Yeah, whatever…” She huffed. Going into this incognito seemed like something cops in a cheesy Hollywood movie would do. Talking to the supervisor of the nightclub and asking for the security tapes would be the proper routine. This was cheesy, yes.

“Oh, and Helen?”

“Yes?”  
“Keep an eye on Leslie, make sure he won’t go solo on anything, ok?”

“Roger that.” Another click and the transmission were over.   
Hollywood cheesy with a hint of exciting.   
‘I am undercover detective on a secret mission.’   
Helen straightened her back and inhaled deeply. ‘Sounds good enough to me.’  
She took another look at the young man by her side. He was quietly observing their surroundings. Disgust clearly visible plastered all over his face.   
“I see you marvel at Krimson Cities aspiring youth.”  
The redhead tugged on her dress again. Was this thing even covering anything?

“I fail to see what seems so aspiring about these.”  
Ruvik watched a guy who was obviously enjoying the attention of two young girls. Both dressed all too revealing and both, also obviously, making a game out of ‘exciting’ the young man, to pass the time.   
He tore his stare away from the scene and faced the female detective.  
“Simple minds driven by nothing more than their most primitive instincts. Shameless in their pursuit of whatever may sate their desires. A fitting prefiguration for the common depiction of the human homunculi. Eat, sleep, mate.” The bitterness in his tone was laden with contempt… and something Helen couldn’t quite make out.   
His remark was underlined by a kissing couple that entered the club before them, tongues dancing deep in each other’s mouth. It was a wonder they were able to walk straight.  
“Don’t blame them, they are young and slaves to their hormones.”   
They climbed the stairs to the heavy iron and wooden doors. Warm, stale and perfume-heavy air escaped the closing gates before them.  
The suit at the entrance motioned for them to come closer and after a few seconds he let them pass through. A girl beside the doors grabbed their hands one after the other and stamped the clubs logo on them. A crescent moon, three X’s and in scarlet letters the name ISCARIOT. An almost perfect replica of the one Helen had seen on Sally’s hand.  
Then they finally entered.

 

The music was deafening.  
Loud vocals and hectic rhythms echoed from every corner of the far stretched hall. The sound reverberated from the high arches above them and through the cold marble floor under their feet. Ruvik could feel the vibrations climb up his legs and into his abdomen.   
He could smell and taste the cheap perfume and sweat of countless people in the air.  
All around them, shadows, figures. Dancing, coiling, winding. Flickering and blinding strobe lights distorted the movements of people into a spastic mess.

Before he knew it he was lost in an ocean of strangers.   
Strangers hands and strangers touches surrounded him. He felt as if he was drowning, panic slowly rising in the pit of his stomach when a familiar voice reached his ear and a familiar hand pulled him away and out of the masses.  
“It’s too full!” The female detective shouted over the music, her voice barely audible, but still…  
For the first time since they met Ruvik was relieved to see the flash of red hair in front of him. A life belt in this sea of alien people. 

He grabbed onto her arm himself and let her lead him to one of the bars. Her skin was still cold from outside but soft to the touch. He was reluctant to admit it – being able to hold onto someone he knew gave him a feeling of comfort he hadn’t experienced in decades.

“There we go.” She sat down on one of the, to his surprise, empty barstools and motioned for him to do the same. “I haven’t been to one of these in years…I forgot how crowded they usually are.” Ruvik watched her wave at the bartender and felt himself calm down. The volume of the music was still ringing in his ears and the air wasn’t better over here at all but he slowly got used to it. The dancing masses were in their back and he avoided turning around to look at them.  
“I can’t believe they didn’t ask for your ID at all! …guess they let everyone in as long as they get paid.” She handed a few dollar bills over the counter and yelled something into the ear of the man serving them. The man said something to her in return and winked at her which made her blush slightly. Obviously some flirtatious nonsense he whispered into every woman’s ear.

The junior detective turned to the albino and smiled. “I will have to keep an eye on you.”

“I can look after myself.”

“Well, you looked pretty much like a lost puppy just a minute ago.”  
He was about to counter her argument when the barkeeper put a glass with a sickly yellow liquid in front of him. Another glass with the same contents stood before Helen. 

“We are not drinking.” He stated calmly. Did she believe they had come here for entertainment purposes? He shoved the beverage away from him and looked at her accusingly. 

White noise. Crackling.  
“Helen, you’re both on duty. No drinks and no dancing. I want you to keep a clear head and see if you can find out something in there.” Sebastian made himself heard. 

The female detective grunted and shoved the drink back into her partner’s direction.   
“I am surprised you even heard what he said.”   
The albino still looked at her irritated, albeit now a bit confused too. Of course. He wasn’t able to hear the male detectives input on their conversation. Why was she the only one with a device in her ear again? Oh, right, because her hair was covering her ears if she didn’t pull it back. 

She pointed at her ear in an attempt to remind him that she was talking to their partner outside the club at this moment. The question marks on his face vanished after a second of thinking and he silently nodded. Alright.  
“I did not forget why we are here and—“ she put more emphasis on the next words to get the attention of both men in her team, “ I ordered energy drinks. No alcohol.”

“Fine. Don’t forget to keep an eye out for anything suspicious, ok?”

“Ok.”  
Static, then silence, again.   
Ruvik took the drink into his hands and inspected it more closely now. The liquid was clear apart from the unappealing color. And it emitted a sweet scent so intense and artificial that he involuntarily scrunched up his nose when he smelled it.  
“You look like I am forcing you to drink poison.” Helen laughed. “Come on, you’re a guy, don’t tell me you never had an energy drink before!”  
“It might as well be poison…”  
“I know, I know. Smells horrible, tastes horrible. But it will keep us awake for the time being. So…cheers?”  
She held up her glass and looked at him, waiting.   
‘We better find something soon. I am not doing this for nothing…’ He took a sip from the drink and instantly regretted it. Artificially, sickly sweet.   
He grimaced and put the glass down with no intentions to ever touch it again.  
Why did he keep playing into this woman’s idiotic actions? Ruvik scolded himself for it and focused on their original reason to come here again. Gather information about the victim’s social network; find out how she got into contact with whoever provided access to ‘LIGHT’.  
“We should start looking now.”  
“Ok.” They turned around and observed the crowd on the dancefloor and near the bar. “Look for people in their early twenties, he said. It’ll be a piece of cake, he said” the redhead mimicked their older partner. She was right, though. The ISCARIOT was packed and loaded with young adults around Sally’s age. Looking for people that might had known or hung around with her at the club before was as likely as finding a needle in a stack of hay.   
“I’d say ‘screw this’ but I guess now that we’re here we should try anyways…” she said defeated.  
“Tag along.” Helen downed the rest of her energy drink and got off her seat. ‘I hope he can deal with the awkwardness….ah, who am I kidding he IS awkwardness.’ She mentally prepared herself for a long night of randomly butting into conversations, talking obnoxiously loud about Sally, about waiting for Sally, about thinking about Sally and in general….Sally. All for the sake of maybe, hopefully, eventually catching the attention of someone who actually knew the girl they only pretended to know.  
The girl’s mother hadn’t been too helpful. She had identified the girl and given her consent for the autopsy but that had been pretty much all she had done. She hadn’t known about her daughters drug addiction, or at least pretended to hadn’t known about, and she ‘sure as hell didn’t know’ what kind of people her little girl had been friends with.  
This could have been easy….but it wasn’t.

 

They had been asking around in the club for Sally, if someone had seen her or anything, for an hour or two now. All the while Helen had not let go of Leslie’s hand. Remembering the look on his face when their gaze met after he got lost at the start of that night, she thought he wouldn’t mind. The young man had been quiet while they went from corner to corner, not saying much, and if he did, only short answers or a few words here and there.  
Ruvik hated every minute of this.   
Squeezing through the narrow openings between people and trying to communicate with complete strangers, simpletons, drunken people and being stared at by so many eyes.   
He held onto the hand of the one person he knew and tried to keep his calm in the midst of the sweating, chattering masses the woman forced him to endure.  
‘It will pay off. We will find something. We simply have to.’  
He kept reminding himself that he did this for a reason, still everything inside him was rebelling against this torture and his eyes fixed onto their hands. He hadn’t even noticed how firm his grip on her hand had been all this time but he saw the white areas around where his fingers pressed against her flesh. He loosened his grip a bit, tempted to let go of her completely.  
‘I don’t need her. The safety I feel from her hand is nothing but a mere illusion created by my own discomfort at the current situation. In other circumstances I would never…’  
Ruvik almost ran into Helen when she suddenly stopped. 

“Ugh, do you need to go?” she asked him.   
They stood before the restrooms, small signs on each door marked which one was for ‘ladies’ and which one was for ‘gents’.   
“No.” 

“Well, I have to go. Wait for me here, ok?” She let go of his hand and disappeared behind one of the doors, leaving him alone.

 

The restroom was clean and brightly lit. Huge mirrors above the faucets hung in golden frames and showed the female detective her own image as she approached them.   
“I look tired as hell…”  
She stared at her reflection for a few seconds and then turned on the water. A few splashes to her face would be nice…if it wasn’t for the make-up she was wearing. Her palm was sweaty. The fingers on the same hand had become warm. She touched her cheek with one hand. Then with the other.  
First warm, then cold.   
‘His hands are really warm. He doesn’t like being here…that’s for sure. I should hurry up and get done with this.’ Helen washed her hands and then turned to enter one of the vacant stalls behind her.  
She had just locked and made herself as comfortable as possible when someone in the stall right next to her whispered “You’re the one goin’ around askin’ for Sally…?”  
‘What the hell….’  
“A-Are you?”  
“Uh….I guess…?” Was someone in the stall right next to hers? No, wrong question. Had someone been in the stall right next to hers all this time? And had she unknowingly entered just the right stall to set this conversation, weird conversation by the way, in motion?  
‘Cheesy Hollywood movie…WITH EXCITEMENT!’  
“Y- You’re a cop, aren’t ya?” 

“Uh…” ‘There goes the undercover action….and worst of all…I can’t pee like this.’  
“Ok, I don’t know who you are but I—“  
The voice interrupted her. “I knew Sally is all you need to know, k?”  
Helen kept quiet.  
“It’s not my fault, k? I only dared her to call the number, because…well I knew people went missing and stuff but…Fuck, I didn’t know she would call it for reals. We JOKED about it, k?!” Sobbing came from the other side of the thin wall between the stalls.  
“Uhm, alright, uh…first of all… I need you to calm down…” Helen struggled to find the right words. “What kind of number are you talking about?”  
“He took Sally, I just know it…just like he took all of my…so much for fixing…!” More crying.   
“He who?” Helen was getting more and more uncomfortable. All of this wouldn’t have been so weird if she wouldn’t be sitting on the toilet this very moment. ‘Fixing, what?’  
“Are you blind? It’s right in front of you! YOU HAVE TO GET HIM!” The stall door beside hers was thrown open and crashed violently against her own before someone rushed out of the restroom. 

“Wait!” Helen scrambled up on her feet, trying to pull up her slip and open the stall door at the same time. Unsuccessfully. Mumbling profanities under her breath she took the time to arrange her clothes and stared at the wooden surface. Only one graffiti sullied it. 

Need some LIGHT on your darkened Path?   
Let me Fixx you—

Followed by a number. ‘The answer is right in front of me?’ Helen pulled out her cellphone and took a photo before she stumbled out of the stall and ran out of the restroom as well.  
“LESLIE, DID YOU—“  
The albino was nowhere to be seen.  
‘Great. Going solo? Frick…’ She turned around to look for her partner and caught a glimpse of white hair vanishing through a door that said Staff only. ‘Oh no, you won’t….’  
“Sebastian, did you hear that?”

“All of it. You lost her?”

“Yeah, sorry, and not only her….but I have a number to show from it. That’s one thing.”   
She made her way to the door Leslie had slipped through. 

“Alright, I’ll be watching the entrance, any visuals to go by?”

“No, nothing. I guess she’s wearing high heels….but that fits for almost every woman in here. She was crying, if that helps.”

“It might.”  
The staff door was closed and the female detective looked left and right to make sure no one saw her enter before she pushed it open. No long search was needed. The young man was only a few meters away from the door, his forehead resting against the cold brick wall of the dark corridor they were now in.   
Helen passed some crates full of empty bottles and stood beside her partner, who was breathing heavily and obviously not doing too well.   
“Hey…”   
She reached out to rub his back but was pushed away roughly. His outstretched hand signaled for her to keep a distance.  
“Don’t…touch me.”  
“Ok.”  
She waited as he just kept breathing. 

He smiled to himself, still trying to level his breathing. Years of isolation and little to no human contact had done this to him. He had known this when he agreed to visiting the night club.   
Pathetic. Laughable. The moment she had let go of his hand all of the noise, the stench and the rest of those damnable sensations had caved in on him, buried him and threatened to suffocate him.  
Trying to wait there hadn’t been an option. In search of silence and sweet loneliness he had come here, where she found him.  
Ruvik clenched his fists in anger. This weakness…he resented it.

Helen felt sorry. She watched him lean there and remembered how she had promised to keep an eye on him. She had meant it, but failed nonetheless. 

After a while Leslie turned around and leaned his back on the wall. He avoided looking at her.  
“Are you feeling a little better?”   
No answer.  
“Well, if you’d be feeling better I would like to tell you…what you missed.”  
He exhaled, his eyes still closed. “Tell me.”  
The junior detective gave him a short break down of what had happened in the restroom and showed him the picture she had taken.  
“So, what do you think?”  
Instead of answering her Leslie simply pulled out another cellphone from his pocket and started dialing the number displayed on the picture.   
“Alright let’s try out the number…without Sebastian…right now.”   
Her sarcasm did not stop him from what he was doing. The white-haired man was about to start the call when they were suddenly interrupted.  
“Hey! You two! This is staff only; get your asses out of here before I call the security!”   
The barkeeper from earlier this night had spotted them in the corridor. He was putting on his jacket, probably leaving after the end of his shift, Helen thought. She remembered him flirting with her for a second. It had been flattering. Almost enough to make her think about the possibilities…  
‘Well, screw that, now I am just some bitch that invaded the staff only area…’  
Leslie held the phone to his ear.  
The barkeeper was coming closer with large steps. He didn’t look as friendly anymore.  
Helen was already tugging on Leslies sleeve, trying to make him move with her. Away from the angry barkeeper and out of the staff area.  
Then a cellphone started ringing out of nowhere.  
Helen and Leslie stood still.  
The barkeeper stopped dead in his tracks.  
He pulled the small ringing device out of his pocket and answered the phone.  
“Hello?”  
“Hello?”  
The answer echoed through the corridor and simultaneously through the small phone in Leslie’s hand.   
The answer is right before you. The woman in the stall surely hadn’t known how accurate her words would come to be.  
Helens finger shot up and pointed at the man in a ‘Look what I found’ manner before the words left her lips in a sudden rush of adrenaline.  
“STOP! KCPD! You’re under arrest!!”  
Futile. As soon as he heard ‘KCPD’ the man turned on his heels and was up and running.   
“Shit!” Helen didn’t hesitate for a second and went after him, the small heels of her shoes clacking like gunfire on the concrete floor of the hallway.   
‘Shit, shit, shit’  
She was unarmed and definitely not prepared for pursuing a fleeing suspect. The shoes and the dangerously short dress she was wearing didn’t help either. They rounded a corner and another one. The back area of the ISCARIOT soon seemed bigger to Helen than the nightclub itself. The labyrinth like paths were unknown territory to her and the barkeeper undoubtedly intended to use this to his advantage. He kept dodging and turning corners like a rabbit trying to throw her off but she was just an arm length away from him for the longest time.   
Then he was suddenly gone.  
Helen stopped and listened. His footsteps were gone too. Did he hide somewhere close?  
She moved slowly, trying to catch her breath as she looked for ways to discern her own whereabouts.   
‘I am lost…’  
Right and left looked the same as front and back. “I think I lost him…I am—“  
A faint clicking sound to her right made her spin around. The door to what appeared to be the basement had just closed. By itself? Helen doubted this.  
“Hold on, Sebastian…”  
Static. “Helen…” White noise. “…tell me where you are!” Crackling.  
“I have no clue where but I am about to enter the basement.” She opened the door and peeked down into the darkness that waited at the end of a flight of stairs behind it.  
She descended carefully. The noise in her ear was pure static now, probably because the transmitter wasn’t reaching this far into the building or down under it. Seb was probably yelling at her to stay out of this and wait for him. She didn’t care. Her eyes were fixed onto a spot in the darkness. Eyes open wide, trying to catch more light, she ventured forth.  
A stupid idea, sure, but Helen was determined to get this guy- even if it meant crawling into the void that was the ISCARIOT’s basement.  
It was cold down here. The thin layer of sweat on her skin made her shiver. Had there been light, the female detective was sure she would have been able to see her own breath…and some nice black lace. She tugged on her dress. The thin fabric had slipped way up while she had been running and she praised all heavens that no one had seen her like this. As it was, she was left alone in pitch black darkness. 

Trying to be a quiet as possible, she kept close to the wall, a hand slowly crawling over cracks and gaps in the brick mural while she held her breath, listening intently.   
There! Where those footsteps? Helen halted and perked her ears.  
A sheathing noise, something was moving, but she was unable to make out from where the noise came.  
Then, out of nowhere, something smashed with full force against the wall only inches away from her head. The sound of shattering glass and the sensation of cold fluid pouring over her.  
Helen sunk to a crouching position, eyes shut tight, her face buried in the crook of her elbow. 

“Don’t you move an inch, bitch.” The voice that had been whispering sweet nothing into her ear only a few hours ago now hissed at her.  
The redhead felt tears welling up in her eyes. This had been a stupid idea. She had been an idiot for following him down here and now she was going to pay the price for it.  
Or was she…?  
His footsteps came a little closer, then he ran across the room and further away from her cowering figure. The sound of shoes on metal filled the room before a door was pushed open only meters away from her. The bright rectangle of light illuminated the cellar for a split second and revealed another flight of stairs at the other side of the basement. Helen saw it, the afterimage on her retina was still glowing brightly as she sniffed and stood up again.   
‘No need for tears yet…’ she carefully continued to walk again, shards of glass crunched under the soles of her shoes. That bastard had thrown a bottle of wine at her. Good thing he missed. She was soaking wet with the spirited drink but she was unharmed.  
Her knees were pudding after the whole ordeal and she sighed a sigh of relief when she reached the steps and finally the door that led outside.  
Cold air hit her face when she opened the door and peeked out of it cautiously. 

“Sebastian?” Helen put a hand on her ear. “Can you hear me?”  
Nothing. Then the device made its usual sounds and Castellanos answered her. She could literally hear him ruffle his hair, could hear how alleviated he was.   
“Saul, whatever you did, never do it again.”  
“I’ll think about it. Ah, about the guy…he got away after all.”  
“Forget him; we know his workplace and his face. Should be enough to get him sooner or later. Where are you?”  
“Actually, I have no clue.”  
“You are at the back entrance of the club. The only one.”  
Leslie had walked up to her while she talked. He hadn’t followed her so he must have walked around the building. Did he take so long to get here? Or had she been down there less long than what it had felt like to her?  
“I’ll pick you up.” The voice came from the small microphone Helen carried with her. Sebastian either had an abnormally good ear or this microphone was hella sensitive. Maybe it wasn’t as bad that she hadn’t been able to finish her…business yet as she thought originally.  
“Alright, we’ll be waiting.” Helen took it out of her ear. She wouldn’t need it anymore. 

Not tonight. The redhead sat down on the sidewalk and stretched her legs out. She looked up to Leslie. The albino was watching the pale moon.


	7. Chapter 6: A long, cold Night

Fuck.  
This was a fucking joke. It HAD to be.  
His footsteps echoed from the buildings surrounding him as the man made his way through empty streets and narrow alleyways. He had been running for a while now but fell into a slower jog after he was almost sure no one followed him. The job should have been easy. Hand out some drugs to random people; instruct them on how to take that shit and ‘finito’.  
Finito.  
“FUCK!” He kicked a trashcan and spat on the ground. Life should have just went on after that. The plan was to cash in and then go on like nothing ever happened. Well, until his boss would come up with a new job, at least.  
‘Fucking Doyle…I should have known that asshole was gonna get me into trouble.’

The man checked left and right, turned around and walked a few steps backwards to see if the coast was clear. Then he pulled out the traitorous small cell phone he was still carrying with him. It had been handy before this night. He liked the simplistic design, the apps, that was why he had kept it even after the job had been done. Although he had been told to do otherwise…  
‘…speaking of which…’

He wiped over the display with his thumb and entered the menu. The exclusive number of the man he worked for, Nathan Doyle, was still saved on it. Calls had been allowed for instructions and emergencies.  
This was an emergency, right? He had done his job properly, it wasn’t his fault these people had shown up, was it? He licked his lips when he remembered the woman that had followed him. A flash of red hair, a dress that hugged the curves of her body so tightly. Eyes with an ember shine to them.  
Under other circumstances he would have tried to take her home – but that pale guy she was with had given him such a strange look back then…  
She had been fast, too; almost got him backstage. But he did a damn good job at scaring her shitless in the basement.  
‘Wonder if I ruined that pretty face…’

The cellphones display turned off and left him in the dark. He turned it on again. This was not a time to reminisce, shit was about to hit the fan if he didn’t get help soon.  
Doyle was responsible for this. He would have to sort things out.

He dialed the number and started walking again.

A hint of moonlight crawled through heavy blinds that hung before big, wall-high windows. The few rays of light illuminated the obviously expensive interior of a vast bedroom. The black marble floors reflected the cold shine from outside and silken sheets covered the single inhabitant of the king size bed.  
Shoulder length raven black hair covered his face as the man going by the name of Nathan Doyle slumbered peacefully.  
Peacefully, until the shrill ringing of a phone disturbed his dreams.  
The man groaned and stirred for a bit, and then blindly reached for the small, vibrating mobile phone on the nightstand right next to him. Only a select few people had access to this number, so there was no doubt this was going to be something of importance. But still:  
Whoever was calling him at this time of the night would have to have a damn good excuse to wake him up.  
He answered the phone reluctantly.  
“Who is this?”

“Hey, …Boss!! Fuck, well, uh…”

”Do you know who you are calling?” His tone was sour; he had no intention to hide his agitation behind sweet words.  
‘That voice…’  
Nathan Doyle thought for a moment and sat up while the person on the other end of the line kept stuttering incoherently. He snapped his fingers and dim lights flickered on. Only one of many small gimmicks the bedroom had to offer.  
“Your name and the cause of your call.”, he snared.

This person was somewhere outside, walking. Footsteps, friction of fabric, the far away sounds of a car alarm in the distance. That voice…Doyle rubbed his chest while he tried to remember why this voice seemed so familiar to him. His slender fingers brushed over sharply defined abs.  
“Uh, you paid me for that drug gig, I am…I am that guy from your club…! Boss…remember?”

He remembered. He remembered who this guy was, what he had paid him for and why.  
And most of all, he remembered one thing:  
“I told you to get rid of this phone, didn’t I?”

“Uh, yeah…” The guy cleared his throat, “…fuck, I should have done that, yeah…SHIT!”

Idiot. What had this dimwit called himself again? Doyle rubbed his temple; the answer was on the tip of his tongue. If only he could remember….  
Fixxer, that had been the name!  
“Now, Fixxer…” Doyle let the name drip off his tongue, sweetly, not a hint of sourness or irritation left in his tone. He was completely awake now and his brain was already running at full speed.  
The fact that this fool was calling him meant that something must have gone wrong.  
The fact that he still had the phone, a direct connection to Doyle, was even more concerning.  
First things first, he needed this person to calm down and tell him what happened.  
“Easy, breathe.” He pushed a long strand of hair out of his face. “Tell me what it is that has got you so…upset.”  
And Fixxer did calm down. A little. He told him everything that had happened. About the woman and the pale boy in the corridor, the phone call and lastly, the chase through the nightclubs backstage section and how he had shaken his pursuer off.  
“So they claimed to be part of the KCPD…did they have a badge or something else to prove that?”

“Man, I don’t know, I only heard POLICE!! and ran like hell.”  
“I’ll need to check the security tapes of tonight then. As for you…”, Doyle paused. Thanks to this guy’s incompetence he would have to forget about his good night’s sleep. He pushed a button on the side of his nightstand and finally left the bed. This was going to be a long night.  
“Should I, you know, go into hiding? Leave town or something? I can pack my things in no time if you want me to…” The idiot was asking him for advice. In the end they were all just sheeple.  
He should get his advice. If it was to benefit him was another question altogether.

Doyle put on his sweetest voice. “No, you don’t have to worry about anything like that. Just go home, rest and wait until I call you again. This night must have been troublesome enough for you as it is already. Just leave everything else from now on to me, will you?”  
“Uh, yeah! Sure, thank you so much…boss…”  
“You can count on me. Now go home. Good night.”  
The phone clicked. Doyle hung up the very second the doors of his room opened. A man in a black suit entered the room followed by two young women, who immediately started helping their master to get dressed and ready for whatever he intended to do.

The millionaire didn’t even give as much as a single glance at the man while he gave him a number of orders.  
“I need to make a few phone calls, tell the others to get my office ready and after that go and get tonight’s security tapes of ISCARIOT. Look through them. Especially the backstage ones. Copy everything that looks suspicious and have it ready when I ask for it.”  
He pushed one of the girls away roughly when he got impatient with her buttoning up his shirt. Any other day he would have had more use for them then just dressing him up, but tonight was different.  
Something was happening out there and he had no clue what it was.  
How irritating. He needed to fix this as soon as possible.  
Speaking of fixing things…  
“One more thing. You will notice one of our employees getting chased on those tapes. Find out his name and address and send your men there. We need to get rid of some trash.”

 

He stared out into the night. There had to be countless stars in the sky but his eyes found none. His gaze lowered to meet with Krimson Cities many lights. If it hadn’t been for them polluting the darkness with their shrill colors, screaming for attention, he might have seen a few.  
Ruvik had been standing outside on the balcony for a while now. His head still buzzing with tonight’s events; sleep was no option. He exhaled and then watched as the small cloud of warm air slowly dissipated into the night. It was cold and he was barely clothed. The chilly breeze prickled on his skin and the coldness crept up into his body from the soles of his bare feet.

Sebastian had picked them up and called it a night. Most likely because of the woman. Helen.  
She had been drenched and reeking of alcohol. The detective had to tell her more than three times that he didn’t mind her entering the car like that.

He hadn’t followed her back in the club. Her actions had been premature. Chasing the suspect had been downright pointless. Whatever had happened to her before they met up outside again had been her own fault. Besides, it had been pretty obvious that the man wouldn’t have led her on a rabbit chase without knowing that he still had a chance to get away.  
Ruvik had waited in the hallway for a bit, listening and waiting. When he had been sure the ‘barkeeper’ wouldn’t come back he did what seemed most logical: Leave the club in search for other possible ways out of the building.  
And that was where he had found her.  
Helen.  
For a moment then she had looked different. Smaller, more fragile and uncertain.

  
It was a cold night and the red liquid still dripping from her hair and her skin only caused the warmth of her body to drain even faster.  
He remembered her cold hands. Cold palms and fingers that would only warm up if held by another person’s hand.

  
He shivered. The low temperature finally forced him inside his apartment. He entered the large living space and closed the glass sliding door behind him. It shut out the cold but allowed the moonlight to paint the few objects in the room with in pure silver.  
Not much had changed since he claimed this place as his new ‘home’.  
There was a fireplace he did not intend to use, a rather big sofa he had only bought because he liked the feeling of its texture and a few more small pieces of furniture he hadn’t moved or touched in days now.

  
And then there was the only thing he hadn’t been able to resist wanting. He had to have it. The only thing he cared for in the whole apartment. He looked at the object and slowly walked the few steps that separated him from it. His hand gently brushed over the lacquered wood.  
He was tempted to hit the black and white keys, just a few notes…

  
The albino closed the fall board. He wouldn’t play tonight. Maybe never.  
There was still a lot he needed to think about, a lot he needed to do.

  
‘I have no time to indulge on simple things like this….’  
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. It still felt strange to him but he would get used to it. He would get used to the smooth skin that wasn’t rough and littered with scars. And to these hands that felt so much and gave off such intense warmth.

  
Cold fingertips grasping for his hand…

  
No, he had no time to indulge in ‘simple things’ like that.


	8. Chapter 7: Revisiting Beacon Mental

_The burning desire in his eyes melted the last bit of resistance that was left in her heart.  
There was no use in denying anymore- she had fallen for him and he, too, had been smitten the very moment he laid eyes upon her. With his strong arms wrapped around her tiny waist he pulled her close to his muscular chest. Her porcelain fingers cupped his face as she leaned in, her eyes closed, ready to lose herself in a passionate kiss…. _

**_“Next stop: Telegraph Street, this is our final stop, all passengers must leave the train.”_**

Helen looked up from her book. ‘Heartstrings’. She had been reading another one of those cheap novelettes. Romance. Nothing that couldn’t be saved by the magical powers of love…at least in those books. 

She sighed and stuffed the thin, pink paperback deep into her bag. No one needed to know that her favorite ‘guilty pleasure’ involved reading about strong men and the women they had to save from fiery dragon’s breath…or other men. Telegraph Street was only a few blocks away from the KCPD. The redhead peeked at her wristwatch. 

‘Still late…crap.’ 

As if coming late wasn’t enough already, her clothes were a complete mess. Living out of her suitcase like this had to stop. She would have to put more energy on the apartment hunt than she had done until now. Simply circling small ads in the newspaper surely didn’t help. At all. 

‘Well, it’s not like I didn’t try…’ 

She had left the subway station and made her way through the streets. One turn left, two turns right. Leave the small grocery store behind you; ignore the small kiosk with the smokes and the dreaded newspapers. _Don’t_ read the headlines. You already know who they are about. 

Helen kept a fast pace until the office building came in sight. They would be waiting for her, she thought to herself. Sebastian had told her to come at 9’o clock to get some sleep before they had to leave for yet another shady operation he wouldn’t tell her more about. Now it was almost 11…  
  
Upon arrival she jumped up the stairs and pushed the heavy doors open. The air inside the building was warm and welcoming. Goldfish Larry looked up from his desk as she entered the foyer, slightly out of breath from her little powerwalk to work.  
“Good morning, Larry.”  
“Good **_day_** , Detective…” He grinned sheepishly over his glasses and then resumed working on whatever it was that he got paid for. 

What a way to remind her of being late. She entered the elevator and pushed the third floor button. 

‘Ugh…and I know at least one more person who will make sure I feel miserable for coming late…’  
  
Cheering on the lift didn’t help and so Helen made a run for it when she finally reached the third floor and the doors had barely even opened. Half running half tip toeing, she made her way to the office door and then came to a halt in front of it. An excuse. She didn’t have an excuse.  
“Are you kidding me? I don’t need to apologize- I almost got my butt kicked by some shady guy last night…well…’almost’ almost at least.” She rubbed her arm and shifted her weight from one foot to the other. Maybe another approach…  
  
‘Hey, I am late- it happens! Get used to it!’  
  
No, that didn’t sound childish at all… Helen shook her head and stifled a yawn.  
‘Still sleepy although I overslept. Good thing they didn’t see this. I bet they—‘  
She couldn’t end the thought. The door opening in front of her to reveal Sebastian look right into her puzzled face were a pretty efficient way to distract her from doing so. 

“Uh…good morning?”  
  
“The door has a water glass window.” He pointed at the rippled surface and gave her a smug smile. “We are short on time so I figured I’d let you in since you seem to have forgotten how to use a handle.” 

‘What.’ 

“Thanks, I guess. What do you mean we are short on time?” Still confused but also relieved at his somewhat amused reaction she more or less stumbled into the room. At least no one was angry with her, right? She risked a look into Leslies direction. He was preoccupied and didn’t even greet her.  
‘Oh, god yes…’  
The boy was studying a newspaper.  
‘Oh god no….’ 

“This is too obvious…” He murmured. Helen felt her cheeks getting hot. Had they seen it? 

“To think they believed this would slip through. “ He slowly stood up, his eyes not leaving the newspaper article his gaze seemed to be fixed on for one second. She nervously coughed and fumbled with the zipper of her jacket. No, or did they? And if so- WHO CARED?  
  
‘It’s not like I did anything wrong, right? Some things in life just are the way they are. ‘  
  
“For all we know it could be unrelated.” Sebastian leaned against Helen’s desk and pulled the newspaper closer. He frowned. “To be fair though, it looks like it fits in a bit _too_ well with everything that happened lately.”  
  
‘Wait, what are they talking about? Not what I thought, obviously….well, that’s a relief…but what is it then?’ The redhead stopped playing with the seams of her jacket and stepped closer.  
  
**NEW OWNER FOR CLOSED DOWN HOSPITAL- Local Entertainment Establishment Owner Wins Auction**

This was definitely something else. But did it have to do with their case at all? Question marks filled her eyes as the female detective looked up at Sebastian. “And?” Was all she said.  
He put a hand on his chin.  
“How do I explain this…?” 

Leslie was already putting on his jacket. “The auction wasn’t announced anywhere. Their blatant disregard for efficient cover up is becoming ridiculous.”  
“Hey….”  
“You think they work with someone else?”  
“Guys….”  
“Someone, who will soon fall out of their ‘circle of trust’. Too many mistakes in a short time.”  
  
“HEY! Wait a minute, will you!?” 

Both men had stopped. One of them was already going to open the office door. They stared at Helen. She stared at them. 

“Would any of have the kindness to fill me in on what this has to do with the case? Please?”  
Being ignored was one of the few things that Helen couldn’t stand. They hadn’t cared to give her access to all the information she needed yet and it looked like they intended to keep it that way if she didn’t decide to speak up against this soon. 

Yes, she had agreed to work with them although they made a pretty decent train wreck as a team so far. But she hadn’t agreed to let this go on until the end of their days. 

“So? Volunteers? “ She put her hands on her hips. A pose they couldn’t misunderstand. 

“It’d be in her best interest to know as little as possible.” Leslie put emphasis on every single word. He had said it to Sebastian who was visibly struggling with words. He wanted to tell her, it appeared. But his partner was still blocking him from doing it. 

The redhead tilted her head and waited for an answer. Was knowing about it all this dangerous? That didn’t matter- she was supposed to help them. And how could she be of any help if she didn’t know what was going on? Anyways…a little danger hadn’t stopped her from doing her job until this day, so why change that?  
  
“I’ll tell you in due time, Helen, promise. But for now you simply have to trust me.” The dark haired man opened the offices door wide and nodded for her to follow them both outside.  
She huffed, coaxed into waiting yet again. “’Due time’ better comes fast…” 

  
*******************************************************************************************************************

“Detective Saul! Erhh- I mean, Helen! Just a second, please!”  
They were just about to leave the police building when Larry stopped them. He was still behind his counter but waving frantically at them. He looked exceedingly happy, which stroke Helen somewhat odd for the usually quiet goldfish.  
She watched him trot over to them, mildly expectant of another stingy remark about her being late. 

“I believe you lost this when you came in earlier.” He happily exclaimed and held something out to her, all the while still casually jogging up to them. It was like all of it happened in slow motion.  
Helen squinted her eyes to make out the item in his hands. So did her partners. 

And then she recognized it. It was rectangular. It was pink. It shouldn’t even be in his hand. 

An almost painful sigh escaped her lungs as realization hit her.  
The novelette. That damned piece of wannabe literature she had been sure was safely stuffed deep into her bag. Speaking of which- how did she lose it? Was there a hole in the fabric? Closer inspection would have to wait until later. Now was her only chance to act quick and hide the atrocity before anyone else laid eyes upon it! Especially not those two beside her… 

She stretched out her arm almost clawing at the pink book Larry luckily held upside down in his hands unknowingly hiding the cover with the muscular bare-chested man and the fainting woman. 

“I never knew!” He stopped in front of them, the book still in hand. “I absolutely love the ‘Heartstrings’ series!” Helen tried reaching for the book but he waved it around while talking. She hadn’t expected him being able to get so excited about something. And now that she knew- she didn’t like it. 

“I have read ALL of them! Isn’t it just so captivating to read these love stories- I swear I almost DIED when the baron finally confessed his love to the shield maiden in the last volume~ And the scene afterwards completely melted my heart!” 

“Uh- I am glad you like them so much..” A quick sideways glance revealed the men behind her to look quite…amused? ‘Oh, I swear to god…’ She tried reaching for the book once more but Larry wasn’t done yet. He pressed the 300 pages book against his chest and continued his praise. 

“The author of this story just knows what the readers want, no, NEED! Never before I started reading their works have I found such a fulfilling, deeply satisfying ero—“ 

No more! Helen snatched the book from his grasp and violently stuffed it into the bag. To avoid having it fall through any possible hole again she wrapped her arms tightly around the whole thing. 

“Thanks. Thank you, Larry. If you’d excuse us- we are short on time.” She stomped off and out of the doors, leaving three silent men in the foyer.  
Outside, she waited for the others. Embarrassing. And there was no hole! Turning the bag left and right, up and down; feeling around inside of it made that very clear. Whatever witchcraft might have caused this definitely was out to ruin Helen’s day. 

A minute later they all sat in the car. Apparently on their way to pay a visit to that hospital.  
As long as no one questioned her choice of books, Helen didn’t complain. Anything to distract her from this encounter was welcome. As welcome as the silence that lasted the entire ride.  
  


  
*******************************************************************************************************

‘A mental hospital? Lovely…' They entered the front yard of the run down and abandoned facility.  
Helen remembered seeing the stylized Lighthouse symbol before. Something she had seen years ago- but didn’t remember where.  
Fallen leaves rustled under their soles of their shoes as the three of them walked closer to the richly decorated doors. The chipping paint and rust covered ornaments on them told a story of neglect, but couldn’t hide the remains of a prestigious past.  
'Whoever bought this place must have either been a complete idiot- or too rich for their own good and bored out of their minds…' The redhead turned around and looked back at the car. Bitter memories had started to boil in the pit of her consciousness.  
  
__LIAR LIAR GIVE ME BACK MY CHILD!  
  
“ Is the fearless Detective not prepared to experience what lies behind these doors?"  
Jerked out of her own thoughts Helen turned around. The two men already waited on top of the steps. The Albino pushed against the rotting wood and it gave in with a slight creak. Stale air and the smell of iron erupted from the opening.  
"Helen you don’t have to come with us…" Sebastian looked at her, "You can stay on guard outside."  
"Or go and read more of that ‘fulfilling’ lecture she seems so fond of."  
Leslie slipped through the crack and vanished into the buildings darkness. Of course…that prick.  
  
"I am going in, alright. No need to pick on me…I already know what’s inside these hell houses. My mother died in one."  
  
She stepped into the lobby and blinked a few times. It was dark inside despite the fact that it was still the middle of the day. Before her eyes could adjust to the new situation they were already blinded by the strong, focused light beam of a flashlight. Sebastian handed her a second one and she blindly reached for the cylindrical object. Helen pushed the button and the light came on with a sizzling sound.  
  
“Look at the state of this…” She let the light wander over the room’s interior. “What exactly happened in here?”  
  
The flashlight tore structures out of the darkness. Withered, leafless plants, wooden benches, toppled over and strewn across the once polished marble floor. Helen paused for a moment when splatters of dark color got illuminated by the shining light. She took a few steps forward and inspected the wall before her. “That’s…”  
  
“It’s blood.” The voice came from her left. The light beam wandered over the floor and uncovered more darkened areas until it stopped at a pair of feet. Leslie stood in the center of the blood covered foyer. Calm and collected as ever, he spoke as if to himself. “They must have known that someone would come eventually.” He scraped his sole over the dusty floor tiles.  
  


Footprints. Lots of them. “They should have gotten rid of all this already. Their inactivity must have come to an end when they realized that they made a mistake. This carelessness just shows how safe they have felt up until now.”  
  
“Well, _they_ aren’t here now, are they? I am not going to move one bit until you guys tell me what all of this is about. Enough with the secrets!” Helen stomped over to Sebastian and crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Tell me. What happened here? Why is this room looking like a massacre happened in it? And what on earth has all of this to do with the drugs we are investigating?!”  
  
The detective groaned defeated. He scanned the surroundings and rubbed his temples, trying to gather his thoughts. She was right. Hell, he had known that this moment was about to come when he had asked for her help in the first place.  
Now she was standing right before him, demanding for answers.  
“Listen, Helen, we—“ he started but was immediately cut off.  
  
“Ugh, ow, what the hell….” The woman suddenly held her head and cowered down. A pose he had seen before, but with a different person. She clasped her hands over her ears and skull, as if to shut out some ear-piercing sound that only she could hear.  
  
“Are you alright?” Of course she wasn’t. Sebastian helped her up and to one of the still standing benches. She slumped down on it and buried her face between her knees.  
  
“Just…give me a minute…ugh…” Helen pressed the words through her teeth. The pain was close to unbearable. Was it because of this place? Some weird body reaction caused by the memories that threatened to flood her consciousness since they entered the building? No. As long as she knew, she had always been able to remember everything crystal clear. No suppressed memories of mental hospitals….THAT part of her past had unfortunately always been burned into her brain.  
  
Sebastian held back a sigh of relief.  
The ‘almost dispute’ over the withheld information was completely forgotten. At least for now. He looked over to where he sensed the other man in their group standing. Did Ruvik have anything to do with her sudden headache? He squinted his eyes to make out his silhouette in the dark.  
Windows in this room would have been nice. But then again, the sheer neglect that Beacon Mental had been in since he had last ‘visited’ here would possibly have caused those to be caked in dirt by now. He turned back to the female Detective.  
  
“Do you want to leave?”  
  
“N-no…just a minute…I’ll be fine in a minute.” It felt as if someone was mercilessly poking around inside her head. It had struck so unexpectedly. All she could hope for was that it would leave in a similar manner.  
  


The sound of a door creaking disrupted her thoughts. She tilted her head to get a better look at the direction the noise had come from only to be buried yet again under another crushing wave of pain.  
A curtain of welling up tears obscured her vision, but she could faintly make out Leslie at the other end of the room. Sebastian’s flashlight danced over the Albinos figure, who was just now peering into the room behind the newly opened door beside what seemed to have been some sort of reception desk. 

“Sebastian.” His voice rang through the pain. Was it just now starting to fade? No… “She’ll be fine by herself. Besides, we won’t take long anyways…if what I expect to have happened here is true.”  
  
There he went again. Leslie ‘I will not wait for anyone- nor care for anyone’ Withers. Helen couldn’t keep herself from smiling at this. Boy was he impatient. And arrogant. And too smart for his own good.  
  
‘But then again… not smart enough to accept that you are pretty much helpless, dude…’  
  
“She will be fine.”  
  
“Helen, we will be right back. You wait here and if anything happens- call me.” He put the flashlight she had left on the floor earlier beside her on the bench and gave her shoulder a light, reassuring squeeze. She mumbled affirmatively and made a slight waving gesture before resuming to clasp her head in her hands. It would be okay.  
Sebastian took a last look at the redhead before he walked over to Ruvik. The certainty in his voice had given him away. Should he be thankful for the interruption?  
  
They entered the back office and storage area of the facility and made their way past the still heavily packed shelves. Hundreds if not thousands of documents could be inside those, who knew. Left and forgotten, abandoned to rot away just like the rest of everything inside this house. It could crash and burn for all he cared. But not before he had made sure. Not before he knew why they had sold it in a rush so suddenly.  
  
Sebastian looked at the Albino in front of him. Was there even the slightest hint that he, too, felt uneasy coming back to this place? If so, he didn’t let it show. Ruvik silently walked onward. His gaze locked onto his destination he was solely focused on what lay ahead. The detective followed his stare and instantly felt a lump in his stomach.  
  
The elevator.  
  
As if he had sensed Seb’s inner turmoil, the young man turned halfway around when he stopped in front of the lift. “It’s the only way.” He simply stated.  
  
Had there been the tiniest hint of a smile on his face, the smallest bit of satisfaction to see him literally cringe at the thought of stepping inside this thing, Sebastian wouldn’t have hesitated even a second to punch this sadistic piece of shit in the face right then and there.  
But there was nothing. 

Ruvik stood there. And waited. His face stern and expectant, demanding as always but nothing else. 

Fine. Not today then, he thought. 

“Is it even powered?” he asked as he walked closer, reluctantly. A small grain of hope. If there was no power to run the elevator then they simply had to find another way. And Sebastian was positive that the white haired man in front of him would come up with at least something if it came to that. He’d take any ladder, tunnel or even sewer over this elevator.  
  
“And even if there wasn’t.” Ruvik pushed the button to call the lift. A deep humming noise started emitting from somewhere down underneath them. “That is nothing we would have to worry about.”  
  
“About that…” The detective spoke up. Everything to distract himself from the unavoidable ride they’d have to take down that long way. “The headache just then. You did that.”  
  
“We don’t need her here. She mustn’t know what this is about. Her presence here is detrimental to what we are trying to accomplish. After all- it was her who possibly alarmed them and forced them to act.”  
  
“You know as well as I do that we can’t just do everything by ourselves. I am already getting asked questions by the higher ups. If she demands answers- we’ll eventually have to let her in on some things.”  
  
“It seems much less of a necessity than a matter of personal interest. You resent me. For things I had no hand in doing. If you fully focused your hate on those who deserve it we’d be able to move much faster. And we wouldn’t need an outsider to ensure your ‘inward peace’.” 

“Don’t play innocent. You had just as much to do with all this as them. Just because they turned on you that didn’t wash you clean of your own sins.” 

The elevator doors opened and bathed both of them in the pale, artificial light of the fluorescent tube inside of it.  
  
“I only did what needed to be done. And they deserved all of it.”  
  
He stepped into the elevator and fell into frigid silence. Sebastian looked at the pale boy. It didn’t make sense to try and talk to the man inside of this body. He would keep justifying what he had done with what happened to him decades ago. And now he, himself, was working alongside this murderer, torturer. To get…revenge? For Myra? Lily? Himself?  
  
He couldn’t answer this question but what pained him much more than that was something else.  
How far would he go to get it? Would he become a monster just like him? 

The albino was still waiting in silence. Sebastian inhaled deeply. Then he joined the other man and watched the doors close before they descended into the depths of Beacon Mental. 

************************************************************************************************************************************************

A few minutes of heavy breathing and reliving all key points of her life had been enough time to realize that she would not be going to die from a simple headache. Okay, she was in pain. Severe pain, to be specific. So severe that she wasn’t able to imagine ever feeling any pain worse than that. But still- she would get over it, right? In fact, Helen was almost certain that the pain was already subsiding. 

Great. Now they’d think she was playing the diva. 

‘Oh, woe is me! I, the helpless damsel in distress, demand to be the center of attention!’  
Helen clutched her chest with one hand while dramatically gesturing into the air with the other.  
The non-existent audience was … _captivated._  
‘I have to stop reading this stuff…’ 

That headache had come at the most inconvenient moment possible. Pretty embarrassing. The redhead leaned back on the bench as the last bit of pain slowly vanished and left her with a slight dizziness. It was eerily silent in here. She picked up the flashlight and let it illuminate her surroundings once again. 

There were no windows. At least none that seemed openable. A humongous potted plant must have once stood in the middle of the foyer. Now only the dried twigs and old soil in the pot remained. The blood on the floor made her feel creeped out. Someone must have gone crazy in here. Nothing you wouldn’t expect in a mental hospital… 

‘Should I follow them…or just…have a round of surely helpful navel-gazing while I am at it?’ 

She looked at the tips of her shoes, contemplating.  
  
‘Or I’ll take a look at this place. Find something awesome. Show them that I am not just some dramaqueen….’ 

She stood up and dusted herself off.  
  
‘Find something awesome, it is.’ 

Helen turned around and looked at the bench she had just sat on. No blood. Good. At least she hadn’t sat on the sad reminder of someone’s lost life. 

“Now, where to go first…” 

*******************************************************************************************************************************

The elevator had taken a while to get them down where they were headed.  
Sebastian was the first to get out when they had arrived and he looked around in the corridor while the other one was seemingly deep in thought. 

“I don’t remember it being this way….”  
  
“Because you only saw what you needed to see.” The white haired man walked past him and lead the way through a maze like bunch of hallways and sets of rooms.  
  
  
“That’s not what I meant- I remembered just now- when I left…there was another way. Another elevator, a shortcut to the main hall.”  
  


“We could have went that way, yes, but I intend to pick something up. A memento if you want to call it that. We will leave on the way you took last time.” 

A memento? So there was something he needed in here? Something Ruvik wanted to get into his possession. Curiosity reared its ugly head. Maybe seeing the item of interest would help understand some of the things that had to go on in this persons mind. 

  
Ruvik could have walked through these rooms blindly. He remembered every object, every detail, every obstacle in his way. So many nights in the dark. Alone. Left to his own devices in these laboratories. 

He had wanted it that way. 

There had been times with longing. A deep yearning directed at no one in particular. Just that vague wish to hold and be held. Giving in to those thoughts had brought nothing but frustration and dread. Best to ignore it altogether until it went away. 

And it did. For a long time. 

Two rooms more. He quickened his pace and ignored the Detective complaining behind him. There it was. Just another hallway. Cracked tiles on floor and walls. Nothing that seemed overly out of place. He could have just walked over and took it but he wanted to feel it.  
The Detective stopped and watched him as he slowly took one step after another one hand running over the dirty wall tiles as if caressing the cold surface. Just a little bit further. The difference would be almost undetectable. 

Almost. He snorted when he felt it. It might have been almost the same feeling to those numb hands of his back then. This body, however, was different. The change of texture was ridiculously obvious.  
He bent down and disarmed the trap protecting this little hidden treasure.  
  
“What is it?” Sebastian had observed his moves quietly up until now but he came closer when the albino loosened the wall tile and uncovered a small hole behind it. A plain notebook was the only object inside of it. They hadn’t taken this. They had taken everything, burned down the mansion, gotten rid of his body—  
but not this. 

“Something personal.” He stuffed the small paperback into his jacket. There would be enough time later to look at this. 

“We should head to our main destination now. “ 

First, they had to see it. The thing that had brought them here. 

STEM. 


	9. Chapter 8: Seeing Ghosts

This place was messy. And dirty.   
And far too big.  
   
It hadn’t taken long until Helen got lost in the unknown territory that was the Beacon Mental Hospital.   
One corridor looked like the other and the sparse lighting from the dirty windows did little to nothing to help her identify her whereabouts.

“Ugh, everything looks the same…” she sighed.  At least, she surmised as the bright circle of her flashlight shone over the dusty floor tiles, this area seems to have been spared by the massacre…  
Sebastian had promised her the truth and she wasn’t gonna let him off the hook this time.  
All that bloodshed- if it had to do with their case she **had** to know more about it.  
  
Was that a map on the other end of the corridor? The redhead lazily strolled over to the big poster on the wall.   
**‘You are here’**   
A big, red dot marked the spot she was at. And that was deep inside a maze of corridors on what seemed to be the second floor of Mental Beacon. How many floors did it have? She placed her index finger on the map and traced the lines that led to the staircases with it.   
‘Feels like one of those desk sets in a diner. “Find the exit.”’  
  
Yes, she had gotten lost and hadn’t found a single piece of evidence yet. Not that she knew what she was looking for anyways…just…  
  
‘I don’t want to go back yet.’ Her finger stopped on the map. The staircase wasn’t too far away. She could just go down, back to the main hall and wait for the others.  
Or she could go further up and check out some of the doctors rooms and the recreation area that where both marked on the map as well. Yeah, the latter sounded much better.

‘Alright. Third floor, here I come!’ The redhead gave the map a final pat and turned to walk around the next corner -only to stop dead in her tracks.   
  
The door to the patients room on her left was only slightly ajar. Ajar enough though. The light beam had only barely scraped over the crack but that had already been enough to catch her off guard.  
There was something about places like these. Maybe the omnipresent smell of medicine, the sharp stench of aggressive detergents and abrasive cleaners.  
Maybe it was the chalk white walls and plastic floors. Or the barred windows.   
Or, _maybe_ , just memories…  
  
She stood and stared inside. Once white sheets, now discolored from dust and moisture, beckoned from behind the doors opening. They stared at the female detective from inside the room as she tried to breathe. They pulled her in, begged for her to come closer. Just one step.   
And another one.  
Helen helplessly watched her hand push against the door, revealing what lay beyond.  
The room looked just the same. Just the same as when she had waited outside of one so many years ago.  
Waiting …and listening.

_‘I don’t want to see her. ..It.’ The voice was quiet but sharp. ‘Look what you made me do! Look at me!—’ A male voice interrupted the woman. ‘I did it for us, believe me. If you just tried you would understand…’  ‘There is nothing to understand! I don’t want to see her. And if you were honest you’d say the same.’ Quietness. Defeat inside the white room. Steps; the door opening; her father looking at her with a look in his eyes that she couldn’t understand. Didn’t want to understand. Had he known that she had heard them?  
‘Not today. We’re going home, Helen.’  
He didn’t take her hand or waited for her. Simply started walking.  
She followed him, short legs taking two steps for every single one he made.  
Her face was blank.   
She hadn’t wanted to see the woman in that room anyways. _

  
“I…I need to go to the third floor. To the third floor.” The memory was over. Gone as fast as it had struck her. She didn’t even notice her own loud breathing until she asked herself what was making the noise. “Shake it off, Helen. No need to get all worked up about…” She cut herself off when she felt the lump in her throat bring tears to her eyes. Angry? Disappointed? Hurt? Maybe all of it. Maybe none of it. Didn’t people always say ‘ _Time heals all wounds_.’ ?  
‘It leaves scars though, and they keep itching every now and then. There’s nothing you can do about it. Try to leave them be.’  
She tore her gaze off the door and pushed herself past it.

 

**********************************************************************************  
  
The room was empty.   
The only thing that could prove it to be the former location of Mental Beacons STEM apparatus where a few dried out water basins and some vents that had once been filled with a plethora of wires and cables.   
  
“They haven’t left a single trace…” Sebastian turned around his own axis. The room looked even bigger now that everything inside of it had been removed. He strained his eyes to try and see the ceiling but the darkness in here seemed exceptionally thick and luscious. Like ink.   
The Detective knelt down and touched the floor. When he held his hand up it was covered in black soot.   
“They burned it out.”   
Ruvik was only a meter away. No matter how he put it, he wouldn’t get used to it. And he couldn’t forgive the man for what he had done. Sebastian stood up and looked at the albino.   
The young face looked unfazed but the eyes and the clenched fists at his sides gave him away.  
 Inside, he was _seething_ with rage.   
“Everything I worked for. Thoroughly removed…taken from me.” A bitter smile spread across the young man’s face. “We should be leaving. There is no reason for us to stay any longer.”  
  
******************************************************************************

“Great. More ‘nothing’.” The doctors’ offices on the third floor had proven to be less than informative. There were no files in the lockers and all the electronic equipment had been demolished if it hadn’t been taken away.   
  
Empty coffee cups still rested on the desks and some long dead plants withered away in silence. Helen touched one of the dried leaves and let it crumble between her fingers. ‘Your nice and crispy…sorry, small one…’  
  
“No groundbreaking info on the case then, huh. I wonder how the others are doing.”  
 She pulled the small cellphone out of her pocket and pushed the button that activated the display. No calls.  
Seemed like no one was missing her yet.  
The redhead strolled over to one of the dirty windows and tried to catch a glimpse of the entrance gates but had to discover that she was looking into some sort of atrium instead.  
Her lack of sense of direction was becoming quite obvious today. She huffed and stared down at the few benches and bushes. A depressing sight.  
  
_‘I don’t want to see her….it.’  
_  
The redhead rested her forehead against the glass. ‘I am not thinking about this. Not now.  
  
_‘Not today.’_

“Yes, not today.”

She closed her eyes.

**_CLANK!!  
  
_** Helen spun around and pointed her flashlight across the offices’ interior   
Something behind her had fallen. Behind her, outside the room?  
  
“H-“She stopped herself from saying anything. This time she wouldn’t give herself away.  
 After a second of thinking she turned off the flashlight. The room was dark but not too dark to see the path she had taken to get to the windows before.   
Slowly, carefully, she made her way through it, dodging old chairs and boxes while she was doing so. The dust on the floor made faint crinkling noises and she bit her lip, praying for whatever –WHOEVER- that might be out there, not to hear it.  
She tiptoed to the doorway and peeked around the corner cautiously. The corridor was empty.  
“Huh.” Helen stepped outside the office and placed her hands on her hips. “Am I going nuts? Fitting place for it, but anyways…” What had made the noise? And where?   
She turned back around and took another look at the office. Maybe something she had moved earlier had made it. “Silly…”  
  
**_SHUFFLE~_**

No! She stared into the dark hallway again. There was no doubt about it this time. The noise had not come from the office.    
  
**_RATTLE_**

She darted towards the source of the sounds, not caring if she alerted someone this time. There! Right before her. The big double doors in front of her stood wide open. A plate at the wall beside them read ‘ **RECREATION** ’.  
Helen entered and fumbled with her flashlight. The button didn’t work at first but then a bright ray of light illuminated the room. It was full of desks and chairs, something that looked like a toy corner. Posters with short motivational messages and rules hung on the walls. An old and bulky television set, far from the usual flat screens people proudly call their own nowadays.

Judging from what she saw, nothing in the room moved. “Are you kidding me?” A slight breeze touched her cheek. The windows in here where broken. Shards of glass lay scattered on the ground and scrunched under her feet. Helen took a few short breaths of fresh air and groaned at the thick rainclouds that obscured the sun. Apparently the bad weather was still lasting.   
  
A small animal must have come in through the windows. Looking for shelter from the upcoming storm, perhaps. “Oh, thanks for asking, I feel really accomplished after a long day of maze running and hunting suspicious squirrels…or whatever. Who am I kidding? Going up here was a stupid idea. Now I am just scaring myself…”   
  
She leaned against the wall and read the motivational posters.   
  
BE HAPPY  
RESPECT YOURSELF  
RESPECT OTHERS  
DREAM BIG  
PLAY FAIR AND HAVE FUN  
  
‘Yeah. Nothing special here.’  
  
A few children’s drawings were taped to the wall underneath the posters.  
Stick dudes. Animals. Happy families.  
Big, crude letters formed the name LESLIE on one of them. It was showing a badly drawn duck on some grass and a sun in the upper left corner.  
‘Hah- how random. Leslie should see this- I bet he will hate me for it if I show him.’  
“Challenge accepted.”  
Putting the flashlight away and taking out her cell phone once more she walked closer to get a better shot of the happy duck.   
Her foot kicked against something and it rolled over the floor with a metallic sound.  
The photo had to wait. The female detective shone the displays light on the small object.  
A beer can. ‘Now, this shouldn’t be here, right?’ She took a step forward. Another can lay only centimeters from the one she had accidentally kicked before. The back of the room was darker and the air here was….thicker. Helen made out a faint smell of beer and some sharp stench she couldn’t quite sort out yet. With her eyes fixed on the ground before her; she walked further into the back. Yes, the smell got stronger here. The windows must have made her miss it before. It smelled rotten. ‘What is it?’ She looked up ahead but couldn’t see much because of the darkness and the desks that blocked her view.  ‘Just a little further…’   
  
*************************************************************************

“She left?”  
They had reached the main entrance hall again. Seb had decided not to call his ‘partner’ out on the obvious lie from earlier. Of course there had been another way down to where STEM once was. A much shorter one albeit still one that used an elevator to get down. Whatever was in that notebook the sociopath had picked up earlier had to hold immeasurable value to him. He would find out sooner or later. Right now, they had another problem.

Helen was gone and Ruvik was already growing impatient. His dismay at the woman’s disappearance was quite obvious.  He wanted to leave and her absence could very well mean an unnecessary delay. He peeked out of the double doors and into the already darkening afternoon outside. The car was empty, he could see it just standing there. “She is not outside…”   
So her precious dime novel hadn’t called to her. But where had she gone to? He couldn’t argue that there was a slight amount of disappointment in the thought of her quitting the job. ‘She’s too stubborn to do that…’

“I’ll call her. She can’t be too far.” Castellanos’ voice interrupted his thoughts and so he looked back to Sebastian.  
  
The Detective had started typing on the small keys of a cellphone. He held the device up to his ear while the albino watched him in silence. For some reason, the unusually interested look on his face irked Seb. As per usual, the guy should have long been outside on his way to the car. But no, he was still here.   
Seb waited for the connection to set up. The phone would ring in a few seconds. KCPD was long overdue in looking for a more stable provider for their official cellphones.    
  
********************************************************************************

The stench was biting her nose and it made it hard to breathe. Helen forced herself to swallow only to be hit by a fierce gag reflex, revolting against the stench that was filling the air. There were no more beer cans strewn around back here. Instead, a gooey dark liquid was splattered all over the floor and the female detective had a hard time keeping a stable footing in the slimy ground. It wasn’t blood but it was part of whatever emitted the foul odor and it definitely led to the source. Helen was moving forward, almost cowering close to the ground, her eyes fixed on the small radius of light that her cellphone covered. The flashlight was long forgotten and dangled useless from her belt.

A mattress lay in front of the wall. It was covered in stains of what were probably urine and feces and more bodily fluids the redhead didn’t want to find out about. The faint blue glow of the phone in her hand exposed a small collection of candles in various states of being burnt down, plenty of different sorts of candy wrappers and parts of half eaten, already mold- crusted food.   
‘Ugh look at that mess. Someone has been having a good time here….or a bad time if you ask me.’  
She stood up. Someone had been sleeping here. A hobo, maybe. Someone without a home who had nowhere else to go, she assumed. Helen poked her foot at some of the strewn about wrappers and immediately felt guilty. Was she standing in someone’s  ‘bedroom’ right now? Invading what little personal space they had?  
Sure, squatting was a prosecutable thing to do- and MAN DID IT STINK HERE- but her empathy won over her duty in this case.   
‘I just hope they know that they’ll have to find somewhere else to sleep soon…’  
Her gaze lifted from the filthy bed and up to the wall above it.   
‘Ah, of course…completely covered in graffiti. So we’re adding vandalism to your list of crimes, my friend…’ She leaned forward to get a better look at the small scribbles, tribals and logos before her.  
‘Not that it matters much anymore… depending on what the new owner has in mind for the place…oh.’  
There, in between the masses of smaller graffiti like ‘klmrh was here’, ‘home shit home’ and others was one that stood out in particular.   
It wasn’t more beautiful than the others, or more colorful. It caught the detectives attention because she had seen it before.  
LIGHT  
Big letters formed the word above a single verse. The word looked like an exact copy from the one she had seen on the restrooms door in the ISCARIOT and earlier on the photo the officers had taken from the empty drug blister.  
  
She leaned in closer, balancing on one foot, while reaching out with both arms to decipher the hastily written message that went with the familiar name- all the while trying not to step or fall on the dirty mattress.

“‘He will appear. Those who wear his mark will be led into the light.’” She read out loud. “Creeeeeepy. Some spiritual mambo jambo, huh?” She stepped back to look at the whole scene.   
  
“I guess I’d turn to some higher entity too if I had to sleep on that.”  
  
‘And maybe I’ll have to soon enough if I don’t find a place to stay in another week or two…’ She grimaced at the thought and lifted her foot. It came off the gooey, sticky floor with a small smacking sound. “Ugh…”  
‘Not funny.’  
  
“BUT! I guess coming up here wasn’t so useless after all!” Helen released the shutter of her cellphone.  
  
**_CLICK CLICK_**  
  
Anything that had to do with ‘LIGHT’ was evidence. A photo or two couldn’t hurt, right?

‘So, detective Saul, how did it feel delivering the most important piece of evidence that would ultimately lead to solving the case?’ The redhead chuckled to herself. ‘Ok, ok…calm down Helen, it’s just graffiti…but…if you HAVE to ask…’  
Helen readied herself to delve deeper into her imaginative conversation as the phone in her hand suddenly started to ring. Loudly.  
Startled by the unexpected noise she let it slip out of her hand and watched in horror as the phone fell and landed amidst the dirt and filth on the floor.   
The ringing continued and the vibration somehow granted the phone a life of its own.  
It drilled itself further into the masses of junk with each low humming ‘ _VVVVVVVVVVVVRRRR_ ’ it gave off into the room.  
  
“No…NO!”    
  
She reached for the singing blue shine and instantly pulled her hand back when she realized that grabbing the phone would also mean digging bare handed through the trash. ‘Come on girl, it’s just dirt, nothing to worry about.’ She sighed. ‘You can do this. You’ve done more for less, ok? This is nothing.’ The female harrumphed, still hesitating. Then, the music stopped. The light faded out, vanished. And Helen sat in the dark.  
  
**_CLATTER  
_**  
Something behind her. Had. Moved. Just now.  
The detective blindly thrust her hand in the small mountain of rubbish before her. Her fingers touched sticky paper, slimy fluids and a few other things she didn’t want to think about before they finally wrapped around the small flat and rectangular object as if it was the holy grail.  
She pulled it out and silently listened.   
Someone was here with her. The hobo?   
  
“H-Hello?” No answer. A tapping noise from behind some tables. This was not an animal. Those sounded more like  the sounds of feet on the floor. Bare feet?  
‘Good job at giving away your location, Helen.’ She started to crouch walk towards the rooms’ entrance, away from the tapping feet and into a better position.   
‘They don’t want to talk, that’s for sure…’  
She inwardly cursed at herself. When had they entered the room? Why hadn’t she noticed?  
And why in god’s name had that stupid cell phone started ringing out of nowhere in the worst moment anyone could think of? Whoever had tried to call her was in for a nice beating. Or, well, at least a few insults.

She had almost made it to the door. Whoever was over there wasn’t too skilled in moving silently- another reason to be all the more sour at herself. ‘ At least’, she thought, ‘I know they’re not coming this way.’  
The tapping had moved into the direction of the dirty mattress and the graffiti. Probably in order to check if the ‘intruder’ had taken anything from them?  
  
 ‘Oh hell if I care, I just want to leave…’  
  
She touched the doorframe and quietly shoved herself around the corner. Now, all she had to do was get to the stairs down the hallway- as quietly as possible.  
‘I should have become a ninja instead of a detective. ‘

**********************************************************************************

“She’s not answering.” Sebastian let the hand with the phone sink and cupped his chin. What if the girl had left after all? Yeah, he had specifically asked for her but he hadn’t really thought about what adding another member to their team would mean- apart from having someone ‘normal’ around him.

“Call her again.”

Leslie had moved. He stood beside the doors that had to lead to the east wing of the hospital and peered into the dark corridor behind them.  
  
“I said she didn’t answer.” Yeah he hadn’t thought this through at all. She had agreed to work with them and he hadn’t even let her in on anything yet. He had made her wait for information again and again. Of course it had only been a matter of time until she’d been fed up enough to quit the job.  
Right?

“She’s still here.” The Albino took a few steps into the darkness. There wasn’t even the slightest hint of doubt in his voice. He was certain.   
Sebastian frowned but dialed the number again either way. What made him so sure? It almost seemed as if the guy was….sensing something?  
  
********************************************************************************

‘Our heroine is on her way out of the catacombs. Her heart is racing, her pulse is astronomically high and her senses are functioning on a super-human level.’  
Helen slowly walked through the shadowy passage, almost hugging the wall as she did so. Now and then she risked looking back over her shoulder- checking if the person from the recreation room had followed her. ‘This darkness is starting to get on my nerves. Windows would be nice…’  
Only little specs of light crept through the slightly opened doors she passed on her way. Barely enough to verify if she was still following the right route. Or was she?   
Too scared to turn on her flashlight and too disgusted by the grime covered cellphone Helen actually couldn’t tell by any means where she had gone.   
  
‘All roads lead to Rome, right? If I keep going I should be alright….as long as I don’t move in circles, that is…’  
  
She turned another corner and…

‘VICTORY!’

The entranceway to a staircase came in sight. But also, there was a sound behind her. She had almost squealed in excitement at seeing the door but now she was glad she hadn’t.   
‘Shit.’ Had they followed her?   
Helen held her breath and pressed herself closer against the wall. This reminded her way too much of the ISCARIOT. Darkness, loneliness, vulnerability. All the same as last time. This had to be the mother of all déjà vu.

  
Tapping feet behind the corner she had just left behind her. A slight growling.   
Wait. Was it an animal after all? ‘Oh, come on; don’t tell me I have run away from a critter…’  
She relaxed a little and waited. The sounds were moving closer.   
The redhead looked to the stairwell and then back to the direction the growling had come from.  
The way wasn’t too long. She could risk a look at whatever had followed her and then still make a run for it if it turned out to be, let’s say, a dog with the rabies. Or some chainsaw wielding maniac.   
‘Yeah, as if that happens outside of badly written horror movies…’  
  
It had to come in sight any second. Had it lost her? The tapping had stopped and she heard sniffing sounds. So it _was_ an animal? What kind of person would sniff people out?   
  
The shrill ringing of her cellphone broke the silence. Again. AGAIN.

Helen panicked and flung the ringing phone back into the hallway and started running immediately afterwards. Maybe the sound would distract them? That screech hadn’t sounded like a dog OR a human. It had sounded **‘RUN OR GET SKINNED ALIVE’** -esque enough to make her curiosity vanish within half a second. Or less.

She didn’t need to see the thing to know it wasn’t gonna share much kindness and affection.  
Helen ran towards the doors and practically body checked them because of her momentum. The pursuer was right behind her- she could hear their footsteps coming closer over the sound of her still ringing phone.  
Why wouldn’t the phone stop ringing?   
The redhead looked back and felt herself turn pale.   
The thing following her was…horrific? A zombie? Frankenstein’s monster?

Silver glowing eyes stared out of hollow eye sockets and pierced through the darkness directly at her.  
Open, festering wounds covered most of the exposed skin and the abnormally long limbs ended in bony, claw-like hands and feet. The creature wasn’t even running at her. It looked more like a really slow, casual jog - or whatever the hunched over uneven method of moving towards her could be called.  
Helen had seen enough. Too much maybe. ‘I am going crazy. This isn’t real…or is it?’  
Another growling sound tore her out of her frozen state and she yanked at the big door handle.  
Locked.  
  
 No wonder the thing wasn’t running. It knew she had maneuvered herself into a corner.

This was its home and she had been the intruder.  
 And now the prey.  
  
“No. NO! STOP!!”

******************************************************************************

It rang. He could hear it.   
Sebastian listened into the silence. Somewhere. Inside this building. The default ringtone of a KCPD cellphone echoed through the halls.   
“So she is still in here…”  
  
And possibly in danger. Helen had screamed. No doubt. He had heard her yell something. And the sound emitted from the doorway Ruvik had already been waiting at.   
“Shit!” Sebastian ran past the young man and held the cellphone without ending the call. He needed the sound to continue to get to her. If only he could make it in time.

The white haired one watched him get out of sight and leaned against the door frame. He could sense the woman, yes. And something else. Something familiar and strange at the same time.  
She had screamed. Sebastian wouldn’t find her too soon.   
What had the female detective gotten herself into this time? Last time she had ended up soaked and dyed red with wine.   
He concentrated. Dizziness overcame him but he didn’t stop. He placed a hand against the side of his head when the throbbing pain started and he slowly sank to the floor.   
He had to see.

*******************************************************************************

Helen kept tugging at the locked door. It wouldn’t open. Love and wonders wouldn’t save the day.   
This wasn’t one of her novels. No knight in shining armor would bazooka through the walls to save her sorry ass.   
‘I should have learned from last time…and simply brought a gun with me. Or better yet- not go anywhere alone.’  
The distance between her and the thing wasn’t big enough to tackle it. She closed her eyes and pressed her forehead against the glass. The stairwell was right behind this obstacle. A few centimeters of cold, soulless material separated her from freedom and safety. Well, moderate safety but still…

‘I can still fight.’ Right. Giving in was stupid. The redhead snorted. Was that really her giving into her fate like a dumb sheep?   
  
‘This is not the time to develop a deathwish…’  
  
Any second the monster would be there. She’d feel it’s warm breath on her neck.   
She waited. ‘I’ll fight.’

And waited. ‘I’ll kick it.’  
  
And waited. ‘Damn this feels like it’s taking forever…’  
  
She opened her eyes and looked behind her.   
The monster was close. Uncomfortably close.

And unmoving.

It just stared at her. No, it stared behind her. All the while the phone was still ringing in the background. What a strange scene.  
What was the monster staring at? Would it hurt her? One of her questions got answered as the monster suddenly turned around. It left.

‘What the…’

Helen waited until it turned the corner and then sighed with relief. She hadn’t needed to wrestle with it.  
Would it come back? ‘I sure don’t hope so…’ Absentmindedly pulling on the door again, the redhead turned around to shoot the stairs a last longing look - and inhaled sharply.

The air behind the glass seemed to flicker. There was…  
  
‘A ghost?’   
  
The person on the other side looked pale. It was a man.   
His form was almost translucent and somehow …static-y.  
He was bare chested and bare footed. The only things he wore were a worn out, tattered robe with a hood and pants of the same quality.   
He could have very well been the hobo Helen had expected earlier…hadn’t there been the fact that he was partly see-through….and somehow …too graceful for a hobo, despite his outfit.  
He wasn’t very tall, maybe a bit taller than her, if at all.   
She stared at him without thinking, mesmerized by the sudden appearance and the, admittedly, somehow pretty handsome features.  
His eyes were focused on a spot behind her and they were bright and clear unlike any she’d ever seen before. ‘No, that’s not true…I’ve seen ones like that.’  
They resembled those the monster had. A coincidence? Maybe she was just going crazy…first a monster, now a ghost.  
Who would believe her if she was to tell anyone about it?

She couldn’t stop gazing into the silver orbs before her. They were hypnotizing. Helen felt herself entranced until the white eyes suddenly turned to look at her.   
They locked with hers for a brief second and then vanished like the rest of the apparition.

Alone again, the redhead turned around. If possible, the hallway looked even darker now than a few minutes before. She flicked on the flashlight. There had been no monster, right?  
Being on her own in this mental institution was just rubbing off on her.

‘Yeah, that must be it. Guess, that’s the proof that going nuts runs in the family…’ She slowly walked towards the corner and picked up the still ringing phone. Dirt still covered the display and she rubbed it off while already questioning what had just happened. If it had happened. The name on the display was…  
  
“Sebastian…?”

“Helen!” The detective was just a few meters away from the corner she stood at. Had he been looking for her? ‘Figures, it’s been him who kept calling me…’ Did she look calm or batshit crazy to him right now? The female wasn’t too sure of either.

“What happened? You screamed.” He looked around in search of any possible threats.

“I…a cat. I saw a cat. Made me jump a bit. Silly, I know.” Was lying the right decision?  
‘Doesn’t matter, I can’t think right now. I just want to get out of here…’  
  
Castellanos scratched his head. Did he buy it? Apparently, because he gave her a pat on the back and said “Don’t wander of alone again, ok? I said I don’t want Leslie to go solo – same goes for you.”  
  
“I got it. Did you find what you were looking for?”  
  
“Yes…no…” They started walking. “I think it’s time you get some of those answers you have been waiting for so long.”  
  
She looked at him. At first a little confused like she didn’t understand him but nodded a moment later. “Yeah, I guess it’s definitely time for some answers.”  
  
“You won’t believe it, though. So let this be a warning. I am not crazy or anything…but even I sometimes ask myself if all of it really happened- or if I am just going crazy. I’ll tell you later. Once we have some peace and quiet.” He held the door to another staircase open for her and she smiled a little.  
 “You’ve got me curious.”  
‘And I ask myself the same, so don’t you worry, buddy…’

A monster and a ghost…  
He’d have to have something really fucked up to get even close to that.

*******************************************************************************

Everything was pain. His head felt like it was going to burst any second. Bitter bile was still on his tongue and the back of his throat. He had vomited and not moved since then. On his hands and knees he cowered near the door; still cramping, dry heaving, shivering.  
This body wasn’t fit to do things like that. To use these abilities. But still, he had wanted to see what happened.  He’d needed to see what happened.  
What he had seen….had been different then what he had expected.   
‘That creature…’  
He couldn’t think straight. He needed to get up. Stand up and collect himself before they came back.  
Every movement, every shift in his position sent a new wave of throbbing ache through his whole body.   
‘It left as soon as it saw me…’  
He pushed himself up. Slowly, painfully.   
Pain, the human body reacted to it no matter how much the mind tried to forbid it. Getting back onto his feet and leaning against the wall took all strength he could muster up.   
“It recognized me…”  
His vision was still a bit blurry but already getting better. His breathing leveled, the shivering almost stopped. He could hear their footsteps coming closer. Good. He could do this.  
  
There was a thing about the creature he had seen…  
“Yes, it seemed to recognize me.”  
  
He straightened his back and took a step forward. They wouldn’t notice.   
Ruvik waited for them to come. Not what he had expected to see…  
  
They came in sight and he saw the woman. Not what he had expected. Not what he had hoped to see…or had hoped _not_ to see.

She was fine. He noticed a faint feeling of… relief? Had he already grown used to her?   
She was no one, nobody. Unimportant. An outsider. Insignificant to his plans, his fight, his revenge.  
It wouldn’t matter to him if she disappeared. It simply couldn’t.

He forced himself to concentrate on something else as they all left Mental Beacon and soon after entered the car.

‘That monster…it recognized me… as I recognized _it_.”


	10. Chapter 9: An Invitation

‘Great. Now how do I do this?’

The question rang through his mind over and over again. It bothered him as soon as he had promised her to do it and it hadn’t stopped since then. It stayed with him when they got in the car, gave him a headache when they drove through the town and it still gnawed on him now as they entered KCPD.

Sebastian risked a sideways glance at the redhead. She had been unusually silent the whole ride. ‘Of course… she’s been thinking.’ He felt for his cigarettes and checked how many he still had. ‘I can’t make her wait much longer…’ Only five little death bringing smokes were left in the small container.  
If he took one now for a short break it could easily buy him another ten minutes.  
No. He wasn’t one to make excuses.  He would tell her. The only problem was…  
  
“OH HELLO, DETECTIVES!”  
The trio stopped and gawked at the cheerfully waving receptionist. Seb, because he had been in deep thought. Helen, because she was still sour at the novelette lover from their embarrassing encounter in the morning. And the last one because he seemed to have a general dislike for the goldfish-faced, novelette loving person behind the desk.  
  
“I have got something for you.” He bent over the counter and held a letter out to them. “This came in _just now_.” He grinned sheepishly at the female in the group. “And a little something else, but you’ll see~”  
  
“Alright…thanks, I guess?” She took the letter and inspected the envelope. 

ND Ind.  
To Detective Helen Saul  
KCPD

“ND?”  
She weighed the object in her hand. ‘Huh. Quite heavy…’  
  
“What is it?” Sebastian had stepped closer. He, too, looked at the rectangle of paper in her hand.

  
“ND Industries.” He ran his thumb over the black letters. “They finally answer. A phone call would have been enough. I didn’t think they’d send it via post…” The detective took the envelope out of her hands and started opening it.   
“Who?”  Helen snagged it back from him. “And it’s addressed to me- so I guess I’ll be opening it if you don’t mind.”  
“ND Industries. They are running the night club you both visited. I asked for information on the staff that worked that night. They kept me waiting for an answer until now.”  
  
“Why would they send their response to me then? I never heard of them before…much less talked to them.”  
She ripped the envelope open and looked inside.  
Three thick strips of parchment came into sight. Each one of them had the same intricate design and printing on it.  


You are cordially invited:  
MOONLIGHT SONATA MASQUERADE  
~A Night To Remember~  


  
A time and a date was stamped on the back.  
“Entrance tickets?”  Helen handed the contents of the letter over to her partners.  
“Are you sure you asked for info on that guy and not for an official debut? Can’t really picture you with a white dress and long gloves, you know?” She chuckled lightly and then looked at the envelope a second time.  
  
To Detective Helen Saul. Reading this felt good.   
Yes, sure, she had been working again for a few days now. But it didn’t feel like being back on the job for real…yet.   
‘It felt weird at best. A strange team, strange case, chases, darkness, monsters….and that man behind the glass doors. He just vanished. Did I really see him or…?’

“Bribery.” Leslie interrupted her thoughts.   
  
“Oh?”  
  
“And bad bribery if you ask me.” Leslie started walking towards the staircase.  
He studied the ticket’s front and backside. “Not only is this completely irrelevant to our case…it’s also tonight. No time for preparation or making any plans.”  
  
“You intend to go?” The female caught up with him.  
  
“Of course we’ll go.” Sebastian answered her. “It’s hosted by the same guy who owns that other place. We will get the information one way or another.” He was slowly relaxing now. Something had come up- and it had successfully taken her mind off the promise he had made earlier. Maybe it was time for a cigarette after all.  
  
“Oh, I don’t know…” ‘HELL YES I WANNA GO!’ A masquerade sounded amazing- and it would certainly be a nice way to wind down after the hell-on-earth experience she’d been through today.   
‘Now…if only I had a fairy god mother to get some fancy dress bippity bopitty boo’d on me…’

“Great.”

The redhead turned to her albino partner. He looked even more pale than usual. A big frown on his forehead and the strained expression on his face left no doubt on the fact that he was obviously uncomfortable with the situation.

‘Ah, I remember…there will be lots of people on a party like that. Not a place for Leslie…no wonder he doesn’t seem too happy about it.’   
  
“We’ll keep an eye out for you too, if you’d rather stay behind this time, Leslie.”  
She gave him a weak smile that he answered with a slightly confused look but didn’t bother to reply.

Sebastian took note of this exchange. She was trying to be nice to the guy. No wonder.  
Who wouldn’t? To the others, he looked like the innocent boy that had once resided in this body.  
Little did anyone know what a cruel monster now lurked behind those big bright eyes.

The important thing aside from that was:   
  
He most likely wouldn’t tag along tonight.

Even if Sebastian and Helen didn’t find anything relevant to the case on this party- it was still a chance. He’d tell her everything. The truth about the things that happened two years ago. The truth about Mobius and most importantly, the truth about this person right in front of him.  
  
Yes, he’d give her all the…flowers?

“What on earth is that?”

The Detective looked past Ruvik and into their office they had just reached.  
A stupendously big bouquet of flowers greeted them and filled the room with the sweet heavy scent of roses.

“Whoa, hey….hold on right there…”  
Helen shoved herself past both of the males and let out a series of gasps while rounding the object that must had been placed on her desk while the group had been absent.   
Her hands lightly brushed over the crimson petals and satin cords before she turned around, face red as beets.  
She waved her arms in some sort of exaggerated charade back and forth before breathlessly exclaiming “Do you see what I am seeing?!”  
The redhead turned around again, not waiting for an answer. “Who did that, I wonder…?”   
‘A sec ret admirer? Hah, yeah…as if, Helen.’

  
“Read the card.” The younger of both men strode up to her. Without hesitation he grabbed past the girl and dug into the heaps of red blossoms to pull out a small piece of paper that had been attached to one of the flowers leaves.  
  
The front of it simply read _‘To Helen’_.  
  
“Oh my god…” She was excited. He could hear it in her voice. And feel it. The female detective had moved closer, as close as possible to get a better look at the note he held in his hands just now. He felt her body lean against his, could smell the faint scent of hers.  
Close.

“Turn it around!” Her face cupped with her hands, her eyes fixed at the small rectangle between his fingers, she didn’t even notice him looking at her.

“Right.” He focused on the card again. The parchment was heavy. An expensive brand of paper had been used to convey the message sent with the flowers.   
He turned the card around to reveal the words on its backside.

**_As a sign of good will and an honest apology,  
be my guests this evening.  
  
I am looking forward to seeing you tonight, Ms. Saul.  
To spend time, become entranced, and to share valuable information with you._ **

**_Sincerely yours,  
N.D._ **

 

“What.”  She grabbed the card from him and walked over to the nearest window. As if more light would make the contents of this message more understandable.

“Who is this N.D. guy?”  
  
“N.D. Nathan Doyle. The owner of ISCARIOT, a few other clubs and establishments and a company that has to do with quite a few major building projects in town at this time.”  
  
Sebastian sat down on his desk, he watched the albino and lit a cigarette. Those two…  
He didn’t like the look of this at all.   
  
“Huh, you’ve already made your homework, I see…” She handed the card over to the older detective and let him read it. “But why is this guy sending me flowers…?”  
“He is most likely targeting the weakest link in the chain.”   
“Gee, thanks, I was just thinking this was way too nice to happen, Leslie. I really needed that.”  
  
He didn’t look at her, but he smiled as he took off his jacket to put it on the rack at the door.  
It was true though, he couldn’t find another reason this person was aiming their message at the woman in their team…or could he?

“ ’And to share valuable information.’”  
Sebastian sat up straight and read the last bit of the message out loud. “He will give us the info on that guy personally- or more specifically, it seems like he wants to give the information to you.”  
He gave the note back to Helen.   
  
She turned the card around once more. The thick high quality paper lay heavy in her hands and the words on it still sent shivers up and down her spine.  
  
 ‘So he wants something like a date. With me? ‘

“Sounds like he won’t give the information to anyone but ‘Miss Helen Saul’.”   
Sebastian leaned forward in his chair and placed his chin on his hands. The whole thing sounded fishy. But then again, they were talking about Nathan Doyle here. High society big fish and millionaire. If experience had taught the detective one thing then it was that people like Doyle meant what they said. And if he said he wanted to spend some time with the redhead in exchange for the info they needed than he would do exactly that. As ridiculous as it sounded.

“Even if she doesn’t go- we’ll find another way to make a deal with him. He’s come forth now and revealed that he has something to share…there’s no going back for him on that.”

The white haired male touched one of the blood red roses. His pale white fingers were in heavy contrast to the dark petals. The prospect of getting new, possibly highly valuable information had to be tempting him too.

“You think I’ll chicken out?” The female frowned and started fumbling with the richly decorated bouquet of flowers on her desk herself.

“I was merely thinking that you’d treasure your womanly honor more than to sell yourself off to someone so cheaply. Someone you have never seen before…” He resisted the urge to crush the delicate blossom in his palm. He knew he wanted the info- then why did he say that?

“Besides, I doubt that Doyle will be satisfied with his choice of company.”

“Oh, don’t worry.”  
 ‘Smartass...and why wouldn’t he?’   
Helen rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips. “I can go back at a great repertoire of experience in all things love and romance. A single date shouldn’t be too hard to get through- and who knows, maybe he’ll fall in love with me and give us even more than he initially promised! Hah.” She plopped down on her chair and played with the note in her hands.   
That thing even _smelled_ good- whoever that Doyle guy was, he sure had some taste. In flowers, cards AND in women. Leslie had no idea.

“Very well. We’ll see how far that second-hand experience of yours will get us.”

*********************************************************************

“Fancy enough?”  
The redhead turned around her own axis to show off the long sleek black dress she was wearing.  
It was a simple one- but she was positive that even a fairy godmother couldn’t have done much better.   
“He’ll be ‘entranced’!”  
  
“Then we’re all set and ready to go.” Sebastian replied after he acknowledged her outfit with a nod. He was dressed in a smoking himself. When had the last time been where he had dusted off the black pants and jacket? He couldn’t remember- but considered himself lucky that the clothes still fit like back when he had bought them. “The tickets?”  
  
“Right here!” Helen pulled the three cards out of the small purse she was carrying. She gave one to the detective and pouted at the remaining two in her hand. Just as she was about to put the third one back into the purse she halted when she spotted a familiar figure at the corner of her eye.  
  
“You can give that to me.”   
  
“Leslie!” She gave the ticket to him. “I didn’t think you’d come too.”  
  
“I didn’t expect that either.” Sebastian eyed the albino carefully. This was throwing off his plans on telling Helen the truth. ‘Why did you come here?’ was what he wanted to ask. But that would be too obvious right now. Instead, he said the first thing that struck him when looking at the albinos outfit.   
“Where’s your tie?”  
  
“I don’t like ties.” They glared at each other. Of course the other one had noticed Seb’s disapproval of his presence. Tension began to build up between the two of them and Helen quickly interfered.  
  
“Who cares about ties or no ties? You can go commando for all I care! Now, let’s crash the party!”  
She pulled the men closer to the entrance of the big manoresque complex.  
Clear lines and contours defined the building that towered over them and its  
several stories with high paned windows and spotlights, that illuminated the glass-clad façade, made it look like an ominously glowing, dark crystal.  
  
“Ugh- look at that ‘money’ chic…” The redhead hastily climbed the stairs to the entrance and held her ticket out to the gorilla in a suit that guarded the doors.   
Her hair cascaded down on her shoulders and back in long flowing strands. A single barrette in form of a black flower adorned it.  
  
‘A black lily…’  
Sebastian stared at the decoration for a second and felt the all too well known sting in his heart.   
‘Myra…Lily…I have to find out what really happened.’  
He was the last of the group and absentmindedly gave his ticket to the guard who in turn made a last cross on some slate and mumbled something into his headset.  
  
They then entered the house and where lead into a large hall.  
  
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t impressed…”   
‘Although I’ve seen stuff like this countless times before, actually.’  
Her heels clicked on the marble floor as Helen entered the glitter and glamour spewing ball room.  
Drapery covered the walls and crystal lusters hang from the ceiling wherever she looked.  
Black was the main color reigning in the room, only interrupted by small isles of icy blue and crimson red from time to time.  
The place was filled with people. Clothing and demeanor spoke the same language as the interior of the hall.   
‘Money’  
 Almost all of Krimson Cities’ high society had to be here. She spotted the first photographer lurking on the other end of the room and groaned loudly.  
  
The redhead turned around with an internal sigh. ‘It’s not too late- we can still leave…’  
“All right, we tried- oh, look, Leslie is all pale; we should leave immediately.” She hooked her arm under that of the albino and tried to tear him with her. He shook her off.   
“I am fine. We’re not leaving until you spoke to the host of this ‘Masquerade’.”  
  
Masquerade. Right.  
She peeked into the masses again. Everyone was wearing masks.   
‘Now if only **I** had a mask….’  
  
“Miss Saul…”  
  
The voice came from her side. A full and sensual tone, it sounded highly pleased.  
All of them turned to see a man with shoulder length, sleek, raven black.  
His dark brown eyes fixated on the redhead and the man’s lips curled into a smile.  
  
‘Hot damn…’ Helen was barely able to keep her jaw from dropping.  
“Uh, yes? That would be me.”  
His intense stare somehow made her blush. It was only then that she noticed the man beside him. He was holding a serving tray with a few masks out to the group.   
  
She snatched one from the tablet and held it to her face, now a little less concerned and a little more confident about staying at this ‘party’ a while longer.  
  
“Detective Castellanos, Mr. Withers…”  
The serving tray was held closer to the two men. Sebastian sighed and grabbed one. He’d play along with this game. The info they’d get from it was too important not to.   
The servant turned to the younger man and watched him expectantly.  
A single mask was still on the tray.  
He didn’t take it.  
  
“I am afraid you can’t stay without a mask.” The dark haired man smiled at the albino and hid his own face behind a simple black veneer. “This is a masquerade, after all…”  
“This is child’s play- nothing more. I don’t need a mask.”  
  
“Oh, I am well aware of the fact. Some of us have much better ways to hide their true selves, isn’t that right? _Mr. Withers…”_

The way he said his name…

“Do me a favor and take the mask.” Sebastian quietly sneered into Ruvik’s ear.   
The albino obliged and the man with the serving tray bowed and left.  
  
“Now! That that is done- I hope you’ll enjoy this little…festivity. As the owner of this humble place and host of this marvelous Masquerade I invite you to be my guests. Feel free to…mingle with the exquisite guests and excuse me while I carry Miss Saul off to a less… crowded place.”  
  
He leaned forward, one arm behind his back, the other one reaching out to Helen. She hesitated and looked at her partners. This was it. Getting separated once again.  
She’d get that info. And that date.  
‘But who will keep an eye on Leslie? He hates places like this.’  
Her eyes switched between the men.   
That dude looked handsome as hell. And he also looked like he knew he was handsome as hell….

‘Alright, screw Leslie…I’ll get my date with Prince Charming right now. Also, Sebastian can take care of Leslie…if they’re not on each other’s throat within minutes, that is…’

“I am ready if you are.” She took the hand held out to her and waved a goodbye to the other two.  
The man breathed a kiss onto her hand and led her off.  
Ruvik and Sebastian watched the two disappear in the crowd.

“That Doyle. He knows.”  
  
“I noticed.” The detective looked at his former-enemy-now-partner. Yes, the perfect disguise. No mask needed. He looked at the mask in his own hands.   
A stylized version of an eagle’s face and beak. The symbol of authority, power, guardianship and skill.  
‘What a great guardian I am…’

A quick glance at the mask in Ruvik’s hand offered much less insight. It was plain white, somehow strangely fitting to the man’s outer appearance.   
‘You’re not giving anything away to anyone…but just now…’   
“Are you alright?” His question went almost unnoticed as the other one was still standing beside him like frozen, his stare fixed onto the spot where the female and the man they now assumed to be Nathan Doyle had vanished.  
“Are you alright?” He laid a hand on Ruvik’s shoulder but was brushed off immediately.  
“I said I am fine.” His tone was bitter but calm. This guy wouldn’t lose his posture even if the walls around him where to crumble and break down.   
The detective watched walk away.

‘If you think I’ll babysit you then you’re wrong.’ He had better things to do. All masks aside; he had already seen a few faces he recognized. Important people of Krimson Cities’ higher ranks.  
Sebastian covered his face with the eagle mask.   
‘Let’s see if Doyle’s exquisite guests have some special reason to attend this Masquerade.’

*****************************************************************************

‘What a day….ghosts, monsters, flowers….and I think this just turned into some kind of modern day Cinderella story. I should keep an eye on the clock just to make sure…’  
  
Helen was still amazed. The man had introduced himself as Nathan Doyle and he had led her into some kind of…Separeè? A private room for sure, but if he wanted to impress her with fancy French words then so be it.

If the ball room had been somewhat noisy then this room was dead silent. More marble floor and walls so dark and shiny that she could see her mirror image in them. The one theme this guy had going was echoing from the floor, walls and ceiling. It resonated from the expensive furniture and tiny objects in glass caskets and even the fireplace that seemed to be sizzling somewhere near crackled it over and over again. ‘Money, money, money….’ He had led her into the room and to a large chaise longue they had both sat down on.

“Let me tempt you to a glass of wine. Miss Saul.”   
He poured some dark red liquid into two glasses and handed one of them to her. She didn’t like wine at all but who cared about insignificant stuff like this now? ‘Miss Saul will drink this wine and Miss Saul will seduce your ass.’  
She took a sip. It was heavier and much sweeter than she had expected.   
Not bad at all. Another sip wouldn’t hurt, right?

“You wanted to talk to me…” Only two sips and she felt the wine entering her system already. A tingling, warm feeling in the back of her neck and her legs.  
  
“Oh yes, indeed, I was- ecstatic- when I heard you had arrived at my little event.”  
  
“I meant your invitation. Excuse me if I am wrong …but I don’t think we’ve met before.”  
Another sip of the wine. Damn that stuff was better than she wanted to admit. ‘Just make sure not to drink too much, Helen, or your badass seduction, no, interrogation skills will fail…’  
  
“You’re right, we’ve not met before. All the more reason to change that. Hence the reason I invited you. I was intrigued the moment my eyes fell on you, _Helen_. And my interest in your person has only grown since then…”

The redhead chuckled nervously. ‘Not sure if flattered big time….or more than slightly creeped out…’  
She took another sip of the wine and scolded herself for it. The female detective placed the glass on a nearby small table. ‘Enough of the non-fizzy fizzy drink for you…’  
Her head was slightly spinning. She closed her eyes for a moment. Was there music playing somewhere? She felt like she wanted to sway…damn alcohol.

“Beautiful…” He brushed a strand of hair out of her face and she felt herself blush like no tomorrow. ‘Cinderella story, no biggie…is it hot in here or is that just me?’  
The wine had to be making this much more romancy to her than it actually was, right?  
He moved closer and looked deeply into her eyes. ‘Holy crap.’

This guy was hitting on her, no kidding. She could throw away all of the novelettes now- this felt as if it was taken directly out of them. And better. It was real. Or not better?

“…just like your mother.”

She snapped out of it.   
“You knew my mother?” Helen moved away a bit trying to regain her posture and trying to calm herself.   
  
“Knowing, no. I have seen pictures of her, yes. To think I’d have the pleasure of meeting the daughter of the state’s senator. I admit that it was the last thing I had expected.”

She inspected him more thoroughly. So he knew about her father….and about her mother.  
Time to abort mission before things got hairy. She cleared her throat.  
“The info. I take it you have something that we need.”

“You want to leave so soon?” He smiled, obviously satisfied with her reaction. If he had wanted to brag about knowing about her parents then he had gotten what he wanted. In no way would she give him stuff to tell the newspapers or blackmail her into something.  
  
“If you don’t mind. I don’t feel like conversing about my family.” She clung to her purse unwilling to look him in the eye.

“How sad. But I guess it’s been a long day.”  
  
‘Oh you bet…’

“I have the info, your partner has been asking for, right here.” He pulled an envelope out of his jacket and put it on his lap. “I apologize for not giving it out earlier, but you see, I am a busy man…and I like making good deals…”

She stared at the envelope. Keeping focus was so hard. Her head was still spinning and all she wanted to do was sit down and lean back. ‘Drinking that wine out of sheer politeness. What a stupid mistake. It did taste pretty nice though…’  
Or splash some cold water into her face. Yes, that sounded nice.

“A good deal…?” Her voice sounded much fainter than she had intended.

“Yes” , he moved closer once more, “your visit was pleasing as is but you seem to have misunderstood me.” The fire was still crinkling somewhere distant. Helen looked Doyle in the eyes. Such dark pools of ember…

“I don’t care much for what you are doing or for your family…my sole interest lies within you, so to speak. So, I am giving you a choice…in exchange for this envelope.”

“A choice?”

She was still torn in-between judging him as a nutjob stalker or the ‘mysterious-man-who-knows-everything-about-you-and-enters-your-life-abruptly-to-make-everything-four-hundred-percent-more-sexy-and-sensual’. Those novelettes didn’t seem to be the best source of information for these kinds of encounters after all….

“I will gladly hand over this valuable information in exchange for a kiss.”

“Or…?” ‘Or your firstborn son. No, surely not that…’

“Or another peek at that delicious black lace I have first seen you in.”   
  
“Excuse me?” She looked at him, now completely dumbfounded. ‘Delicious…black…… lace?’ Something dawned on Helen. This guy was the owner of ISCARIOT….  
He smiled at her like a schoolboy.

“The one you sported so elegantly when you uninvitedly invaded my businesses’ backstage areas. You and I both seem to have a fondness for danger , forbidden things…and darkness.”

That bastard. He had only invited her in here to get another panty shot?! ‘What a pervert! I knew this would haunt me if anyone would ever see it…!! And here I was thinking I’d be met with a gentleman.’

The sudden rush of adrenaline wiped away the effects of the wine and she angrily raised her hand, ready to slap the living crud out of that rude person in front of her. But felt restrained. She turned her head to see what kept her arm in place.  
A man in a suit smiled at her. He held her hand in a firm grip making it impossible for her to move even the slightest inch.

“The kiss it is then, I figure.”

“Wha—“ she wanted to object but was cut off by his lips. He pulled her close and she felt his hands on her back and her neck. His toned body was pressing against hers.

As soon as it had happened it was over. It had just been a kiss, nothing more. He pulled back and smiled, brushing her hair behind her ear.

‘No tongue, no grabbing at my butt? Wait, am I seriously complaining at the lack of indecency?’  
She frowned but took the letter from his hands none the less. Willingly or not, she had earned this ‘reward’.

“Thanks, I guess…” Confused as to why she was even thanking him, she stuttered some words as a good bye and made her way to the exit.

“Oh, it was my pleasure, Miss Saul. Until we meet again….good bye.”  
Doyle told his servant to lead her back to the hall and then snickered to himself.

“So it’s true. I simply…have…to have you, dear.”

“You’re walking on thin ice.”

Doyle turned around. He hadn’t expected anyone else besides himself to be here still. The woman took a step out of the shadows. She crossed her arms over her chest and cocked an eyebrow at him.

“You’ve had orders.”  
“And I kept to them, didn’t I?”  
  
“We’ve instructed you to dispose of any evidence. Not to help them find it.”

“That, I did. Or did you actually believe I was going to give this information away without making sure it was worthless by the time they’d have access to it?”

“We’ve also told you to keep your hands off that woman.”  
  
“Oh, I know…I just couldn’t help it.” He grinned to himself and played with small accessory he had skillfully removed from the female detective’s hair earlier. She hadn’t even noticed.  The black flower looked fragile and small in his palm. He closed his fingers around the object.   
“It’s only human. Don’t you know that it’s the toys we are told not to play with that tempt us the most?”  
  
***********************************************************************

Ruvik aimlessly wandered through the spacious room. He tried to avoid the masses but had no choice but to stray away from the relatively safety of the walls now and then.   
Chatting, dancing and drinking people roamed the hall and kept bumping into the man who was in search of just one empty space, one quiet corner to retreat to and watch the unholy row of self-indulgence from afar.

He found himself walking backwards when yet another group of laughing jesters came his way only to stumble into what seemed to be some sort of tent like structure.  
His eyes adjusted to the sudden change of lighting and he made out drapery, curtains, cheap jewelry that hung from walls and ceiling. And the strong smell of different spices.

A voice rang through the air behind him.  
“Now, now, what do we have here? Come closer boy, so Madame Zeli can get a better look at your face…”

At a small round table in the middle of the dimly lit tent sat a old wrinkly lady. Her curly hair was long and covered in just as much frippery as her tent. And her neck. And her limbs.

‘A fortune teller…?’

He wanted to leave the small room again but decided against it when he heard the laughter and squeals of people outside.   
Staying inside for a little longer could prove less stressful than leaving right away.

The jingling of a plethora of armlets pulled his attention back to the old woman. She had moved. Her hand was pointing at the empty chair in front of her.

“I can show you things yet to come.”

“I am not interested in your jamboree.” He pulled the curtains back a little and peeked outside.  
  
“Your judgement is too rash, young one. My predictions have never failed to this day. Sit down for a while and I will tell you secrets of your future.”  
  
The old hag wouldn’t stop talking, would she?

“Is there nothing you desire? I can tell you about everything. Your life, health, fortune, love…”

“Save your breath. I’ll sit down.” He slumped on the chair.  
  
“Now? What do you wish to hear about?”  
  
“I don’t care. Just get it over with.” How long could it take to get the info from this man? His mind kept circling around the view of them leaving together. He needed distraction. If the ramblings of this woman could give him a few minutes of peace from these thoughts and the wild hubbub outside then he was willing to let her try.

“Fine. Give me your hand, young man. I’ll read to you… from the lines of your life.”  
The thought of her spindly long fingers touching his hand was revolting. He let her do it anyways.  
  
  
********************************************************  
  
Sebastian admitted defeat. There was nothing to gain from this party. A few politicians and investors of bigger companies attended it- but none of them even knew who their host was or what he did.   
Much less did they know…or admit to know… about the goings on in Krimson City.  
Talking to them was useless and a waste of his time. If only he knew how Helen was doing.  
She was young and pretty- but that wouldn’t get her far if that Doyle proved to be as eccentric as his house and his taste in pastime suggested him to be.

‘She’ll handle. Although…I should at least try to find out where he took her to.’  
Of course he was curious and he felt bad for basically feeding her to the lion. But the case had come to a dead end and this man could provide vital hints to further their investigation. It was simply necessary.  
  
He made his way through the crowded hall. The later the evening, the louder and more promiscuous the guests had gotten. Shameless behavior as far as the eyes could see.

‘Give them a mask and they’ll show their true self…all under the safety of the disguise, naturally.’

“Ah.” He stopped. A bulky bodyguard stood before a small door. The man was watching the partying people and spoke into his headset from time to time. Suddenly he moved to the side and looked at the door expectantly.

It opened and a person emerged from the private chambers of the Masquerades host.

Sebastian’s eyes widened. He ducked behind some of the other guests and covered his face with the eagle mask. Unbelieving, he mumbled under his breath.  
  
“Kidman?”

  
****************************************************************************

“Hmmm, this is strange…”  
  
“Does your magic fail you?” Ruvik watched the old woman inspect his palm. Now that he had allowed her to look ‘into his future’ he was quite amused to see her confused face.

‘What kind of act will she put up?’ He had no experience with fortune tellers but he had expected her to point at several lines on his skin and mumble something about luck, a long life and lots of children.  
The same she most likely told every fool that stumbled into her little marquee.

“Mhhh- no, that can’t be it. Let me look at your face, bub.” Before he knew it her claw like fingers had gripped onto his chin and pulled him closer to her.

Foul breath mixed with a strong perfume. It made him nauseous. And angry.  
but he still kept his calm.  
  
“Your eyes…” She hissed at him. “What’s wrong with your eyes?!” Her grip on his face fastened and he could feel her nails dig into his skin. She breathed heavily. “Youuuuu….THIEF!” He struggled out of her grasp and stumbled out of the chair.

The woman now bawled at him at the top of her lungs. “What are you! You thief,THIEF!” She kept yelling at him, walking backwards, pointing a finger at him. “GET OUT OF HERE; WHATEVER YOU ARE!”

 Without a moment’s hesitation he did just that. He staggered out of the tent and right into the masses, pushed forth through the dozens of people and further, further to an open door that led outside and into a cold, nightly garden.

Fresh air. He kept running until the house was behind him. Until the noise became faint and the lights didn’t reach him anymore.

He stopped when he came to a fountain. The drizzling water mixed with the sound of his jagged breathing.   
  
“I am…a thief?” he touched his face and then stared at his open hands. “Then what are they? Who are you to judge me…”  
  
 “Leslie?” The familiar voice came from the other side of the fountain. Or rather, inside the fountain.  
He tried to look through the curtains of falling water but she was already rounding the inner pole of the large garden decoration.  
The female detective stood inside the fountain’s pool, knee deep in water, her dress ruffled up in her hand just enough as to not touch the crystal clear fluid.  
For no apparent reason, he noticed, as the fabric was already soaking wet and dripping.  
  
“What are you doing out here?” ‘Is your ‘date’ already over?’  
He watched the redhead walk through the heaps of water. She was quiet. Her face was illuminated by the spotlights that littered the fountains ground. The expression on her face was unreadable. Like a statue. Frozen in time. Only that this one was taking slow, thoughtful steps towards him in the eerie moonlit scenery.

“I needed some time alone.” She looked back to the house.  
  
“Did he keep his promise?” ‘What happened when the two of you were alone?’

“Sure.” She pointed to his left side and he saw her shoes, purse and an envelope laying on the edge of the fountain. He didn’t like the way she had answered him. A toneless voice.   
  
“You didn’t like the meeting.”  
  
“You’re right. I didn’t.”  
  
“It was different than you expected.”  
  
“Again, right.”

He sighed and sat down beside her items. His hand brushed over the envelope.   
“You should have known better. This is not one of your books. This is a cruel world- you’d be better off trusting no one but yourself. Or else…”  
‘Or else you’ll only end up betrayed. ’  
  
“I know that. I know.”  
Her voice was faltering. “I knew. Therefore the books. Because I knew.”  
Yes, for a moment she had wanted to believe it. These last days had been so strange- it could have been possible, right?

“Isn’t it okay, if it’s just in my dreams?”  
 It was only now, in this brief moment, that he saw a hint of bitterness shining through the cracks of her mask. Through the cracks of that usually hidden, broken smile.  
Maybe there was more to this woman than he had thought after all…

She climbed out of the water.   
“So, why did you come out here?” She changed the topic. Maybe it was better that way.

“I needed some time alone.” He smiled and took the envelope.   
  
“Huh. Great minds think alike.” She nudged him and grinned a little. “Oh, wait.”   
He had started opening the letter but stopped now.   
“What?”  
  
“We should find Sebastian before we open this. He might be interested in it too. Besides, he had promised to tell me everything about the case and who it is that you’re after, tonight.”   
She picked up her shoes and brushed off her dress.

“Everything.”

‘THIEF!’ Madam Zeli’s voice rang through his head.  
  
“Yeah, about time if you ask me.” She held her hand out to him to pull him up. “Let’s go find him.”  
He took her hand but he didn’t move. She looked at him, puzzled.

“There’s still some time…I will tell you.”


	11. Chapter 10: No One Home

_“Mobius, huh? So they’re the ones you and Sebastian are after…but how do you know it’s them?”  
  
“It’s not the first time we’re dealing with them. Sebastian and I, both, we each have our own reasons to hunt them down.”  
  
  
_ Helen turned off the water faucet and watched the little swirl that formed on the ground of the shower. The air inside the small cabin was still warm and humid; she waited for a few seconds before she slid open the glass door and stepped outside into the coldness of the bathroom.   
‘What a day…’  
Finally she knew a little more of what the case was about. It hadn’t been much that Leslie had told her that evening, but it was something.  
His voice the epitome of calmness, his words carefully chosen, but his eyes….  
_‘_ I wonder if he knows how much his eyes are showing.’  
So much anger, so much sadness. No wonder the albino had paused so many times in-between his short report. Talking about these  Mobius people must have been a hard thing to do for him.  
Helen hadn’t even tried to ask him what it was that they had done to him. Stirring up his emotions more than they already were seemed a bad idea. _  
_  
Mobius.   
An organization that had connections, influence and power. And they used it to research the human brain and mind. At some point they had gotten their hands on a machine that was able to connect the minds of people. Built with the designs and data stolen from some man they killed when he refused to further help them.  
In the end it didn’t work the way they wanted it to. So they somehow pulled Sebastian and his team into the whole thing.   
  
_“But what was all of that good for? A machine that should simply connect people…but then so many of them died…”_  
  
He hadn’t answered her. Maybe he had been thinking about it himself. Maybe he simply had no answer.  
Helen wrapped a towel around her. Fresh towels every day.  
Only one of the advantages of living in a hotel. Others were the fresh sheets on her bed and the little piece of expensive, wrapped chocolate on her pillow. The luxury was almost frivolous. She had been happy about it for the first few days but now the small pralines had started to pile up inside a drawer next to the bed.  
With a small yawn she plopped down on the soft mattress and stared at the ceiling.  
  
‘So tired…but I can’t sleep, can I…’

Whatever they wanted- they hadn’t been able to get it then. And now Mobius had started to use the whole town as their very own special research lab, feeding experimental drugs to innocent people and leaving a trail of corpses and lies behind them.  
  
‘Poor Oscar…and Joseph. I have never talked to either of them but…damn. No wonder Sebastian is so hell-bent on getting more info on the case.’  
  
_“You believe everything I said, just like that…”  
  
“Why shouldn’t I? Sure, it all sounds crazy; but trust me, if I thought you were nuts I’d have to question my own sanity first. Besides, we’re partners. I want you to know that you can rely on me and that won’t happen if we start pointing fingers at each other. It’s bad enough that you and Sebastian don’t seem to get along very well. There’s lots we have to work on if we want to get Mobius ass…”  
_  
He’d almost seemed happy at hearing her answer. Sebastian on the other hand hadn’t seemed too excited when they found him later in front of the house. He had been staring at the entrance gates of the property and smoking. Quite a few cigarette stumps at his feet gave away that he had been out there for a while.  
Mumbling under his breath he had quietly said to the albino  
  
_“Kidman. She was here.”  
  
“Is she from Mobius, too?”  
  
_ Helen, blurting out that question, had thrown him off. His confused look had turned from her to Leslie, who then smiled and simply stated _“I told her what she needed to know.”_   
The men had stared at each other for a moment.   
Back then it really looked like one of them could have slapped the other with a glove any given moment back then. Time for an old fashioned duel. Get out your fancy hats and barrel roll revolvers, gentlemen.

 

‘As if telling me was such a big deal…’ Helen rolled over and grabbed unto one of the big, fluffy pillows. It smelled heavenly. Just not like…home. The redhead let her eyes wander around the perfectly clean and organized hotel room. There was not a single speck of dust or one lonely out-of-place item to see. Everything was so neatly arranged that it made her feel like an intruder. She needed to get out of here. And quick. She needed to find an apartment. A place to leave her clothes strewn about the floor. A place to put her own decorations on the window pane and her own pictures on the walls. To keep leftover foods in the fridge and forget about them. To cook, and clean, and complain about one’s own mess.  
  
‘A place to call home…’ She hid her face in the pillow.

Sebastian had taken the envelope and dismissed the team for the night. Doyle had kept his promise. They got the info they wanted. A vitae, photograph and address of the bartender.  
Tomorrow they would investigate further.

 

“So now that I know…should I tell them what I have seen?”, Helen asked into the silken fabric.  
No answer. Of course not. Pillows couldn’t talk.  
She would have to find out herself.  
Machines that delve into the user’s brains and thoughts were one thing.  
Monsters and ghosts were something completely different.

That man in the robe…his picture kept appearing before her inner eye.  
As soon as he had appeared, the monster went away. And despite his rather ‘unusual’ appearance he hadn’t done anything harmful…

‘Well yes…just another lesson in ‘looks can be deceiving’, girl. That Doyle had looked like a prince in a fairytale…and he turned out to be a complete pervert and asshole. Although…the other guy didn’t even look too bad either…’

She remembered the clear features, the serious expression and the incredibly bright eyes.  
Yes, not bad at all, actually…if you look past his choice of clothes…and…

“Stop it Helen, you’re just tired.”  
She groaned, and finally turned off the lights.

********************************************************************************  
  
He tossed around in his bed, unable to get her out of his mind. What had she done inside that bastard’s private rooms? What had happened in there? He finally sat up and ruffled his hair. Sleep was yet far away. All he could think about --was her.

 

‘Kidman. So you survived. And you are still a part of all this?’

 

Sebastian swung his legs over the edge of the bed and rubbed his temples.   
He hadn’t been able to follow her. Hiding behind the masses of partying guests, he had watched her leave the house and enter a black limousine. It drove off immediately and he had been forced to stay behind.

‘The license plate. I’ll have to check it as soon as I get into the office tomorrow…’

Into the office. Sebastian stood up and walked over to a small table in his bedroom. The streetlights were enough to illuminate his path and he picked up the white envelope that lay upon the piece of furniture.  
Inside of it was the information on Cadel Sanchez, one of the bartenders of ISCARIOT and also the drug dealer that had helped Mobius to spread the highly lethal substance ‘LIGHT’ among Krimson Cities’ drug addicts.   
His address would lead them to him and they would squeeze out of that guy whatever knowledge he had.

The detective cleared his throat and reached for another object on the small table. His fingers firmly closed around the neck of the cold Scotch bottle. The aromatic smoky odor filled his nostrils when he removed the cap. One, two slow sips and he felt the familiar warmth spread through his chest. A bad habit but he simply couldn’t let go of it.  
Had he started to drink more again lately? Didn’t matter…

His guilt filled gaze went over to a photograph of his missing wife and daughter and then on to the picture of the drug dealer.

 ‘What a smug smile….’

Just like the one he’d seen earlier tonight.  
Ruvik.   
He had told Helen about Mobius himself- apparently leaving out all and any information concerning his blood stained connection to the organization.   
  
‘No matter how much you want to see it that way…you’re **not** a victim in this.’  
  
He’d gotten what he deserved. And as soon as this was all over…  
Sebastian took another slug of the strong alcoholic beverage.   
  
‘Don’t think you’ll get a happy end.’  


************************************************************************

 

“Finally a day without rain!” Helen dropped the roses and the card from the day before into the office’s trash can. The immensely big bouquet almost didn’t fit the small cylindrical waste bin and she had to step onto it to make it fully disappear from sight.  
Bad Doyle, bad flowers, bad, bad, bad.  
  
Satisfied with her work, she returned to her desk and opened a small bag she had brought in with her this morning. Fresh apples, bright red and bright green. She took one and rubbed it against her sleeve to enhance the shine on the fruits peel.  
  
“I don’t think I have seen the sun a single time since I have come back here…”  
  
“So, you brought the rain with you.”   
Leslie was once again going through Dr Kugels reports of the examinations on the corpses and the lab report on the drugs contents. It had been days now and he still wouldn’t stop brooding over the data they had gotten from the hospital.  
  
“Hah! No…but it seems the sun didn’t follow me here either. All this bad weather. Really, sometimes I wish I was back home.” She inspected the now completely polished apple. “My home away from home.”  
  
“…” Leslie leaned back. Annoyed, he shoved the paperwork away from him and closed his eyes.   
  
‘Seems he still can’t make sense of that stuff. Can’t blame him- I looked at it. Most of the stuff on there is too smart for me.’

“Here!” She tossed him an apple. “One hundred percent free of poison or drugs. Guaranteed.”

He caught it, smiled, and held the apple up to his nose. The fruits scent was so faint it was barely recognizable.  
But it was fresh and promising. Tempting, even. The young man put the shiny apple on his desk to save it for later.  
  
“Thank you.”

‘Every once in a while…it looks like he is doing something….as if he hadn’t done it ever before…or as if the last time he’s done it is so far away…that he can hardly remember.’  
The redhead found herself staring at the albino. Had his behavior, the mistrust and the coldness, something to do with what connected him to Mobius?

‘The poor guy. Maybe he is still suffering from what they did to him and not just some ‘my-parents-locked-me-up-in-the-basement-and-I-hate-everything-and-everyone’ emotional cripple…’

She took a bite of her apple. Sweet and sour at the same time.   
  
‘I can’t simply ask him what happened…he is just about to unbend a little and I don’t want him to close up completely again.’

Her thoughts trailed off for a bit when suddenly—

**_drip_ **

‘What?’

**_drip_ **

Helen looked up and was hit by another drop of water.

**_drrriiipp_ **

“No way…”

“What is it?”

“Great! Now even the ceilings leaking!” Helen grabbed at the wet spot on her head and angrily ruffled her hair. “This town is going down for real…”

“You picked a bad time to come back, I am afraid.”   
  
She pouted at his amused look and shoved her desk a bit out of the way.  
“We need to tell Larry about this so he can get someone to fix this…must be a broken pipe somewhere.”

“What are you doing there?” The question came from the door. Sebastian stood there and inquisitively stared at Helen.   
Her desk was closer to the one of the albino now. If she sat down at it she might as well pet the guy on his head, he thought.   
  
“There’s water coming from the ceiling and I’d rather not start KCPDs next wet T-Shirt contest if you don’t mind.” The redhead retorted. ‘Is it just me or does Lady Luck really want to see me drenched in whatever water, wine or other stuff fate can throw at me, lately?’   
  
“Alright then, I guess…” the detective lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply. Still, there was enough space in the room to put her desk further away from Ruvik’s instead of closer to it…that leak had better get fixed soon... “You won’t spend the day at your desk anyways- we’re leaving to pay Mr. Sanchez a visit, remember?”  
  
Right, they wanted to go to the place of that person. Helen did remember. She also hadn’t forgotten about the rabbits chase this man had tricked her into the last time she saw him.   
‘We’ll see if he’ll run away this time as well…I am prepared.’

“Pick up your jacket, its cold outside.” He was still holding onto the door, impatiently waiting for the other two to get up and follow him.  
  
“Just let me open the window real quick- we could need some fresh air in here for when we come back.” The female wanted to move to the window but halted when he interrupted her.

“Keep it closed. There are workers on the street. They opened the manhole in front of the building. Something wrong with the drainage in the sewers, I heard. The stench is unbearable.”  
  
“Ew…well, ok then, let’s go, right?”

 Down in the hall the redhead talked to the receptionist shortly before they went outside and entered the car. Cadel Sanchez lived in one of the less favored areas of Krimson City. Driving there wouldn’t take them long but should they need help once there, they would have to rely on themselves.  
Most of the population in that part of town was on bad terms with the police by default.  
  
  
********************************************************************

  
“It looks completely rundown…”   
They had arrived at their destination and Ruvik stepped out of the car.  
Slums. Decrepit houses and unkempt yards right and left as far as the eye could see. He knew places like this. He had reconstructed them from memory in STEM. Houses, niches, the tiniest holes…the secrets that people would never tell- they had all lain bare in front of him once someone was connected to his invention.  
  
‘So many people that came from places like this…hopelessness and meaningless stupor, memories of no value. Just fodder for the endlessly growing world I created. Had to create.’

He walked up to the front lawn, or what was left of it. His hand grazed the rough wooden panes. Chipping paint lightly crumpled under his fingers.   
  
‘Take in every part of it. Like in the cold nights you wandered, unseen. Like a hunter searching for his prey.’

He didn’t have to hide anymore. But he was hunting none the less. Only this time he knew who it was that he hunted. No more unbridled, undirected rage.  
He would save it all.

For Mobius.

  
“Look at that dump.” The redhead had walked up beside him. He glanced at the woman. Her presence was soothing. Only a few days and Ruvik’s perception of the young girl had changed from  disapprobation ab initio had changed to curiosity…having her at his side seemed…good? His eyes went back to the house they stood in front of.  
Good. That was all he could afford to admit to at this time.  
  
“At least he has something to call home, huh? More than I can say…”  
 Sebastian shoved the female detective through the wooden gate. “Now that we’re here we shouldn’t waste more time and knock on his door.” He checked the name plate on the mailbox and nodded. “It’s his house, no doubt.”  
  
“Then, ring the bell, chief.”  
  
He did. They waited a while but no answer came.   
“Maybe he didn’t hear it.” Helen pushed the small button. They could hear the doorbell go off inside but no yelling or footsteps coming to the door.  
  
“No one home? Did he come to work the last few days? Maybe he is already out of state…”  
  
“If he had skipped work they’d mentioned it the letter, don’t  you think? He better be in there, hiding or something.” Sebastian rang a last time before he exhaled slightly frustrated.  
  
“I’ll check for a back door in case that guy is trying to sneak his way out. You wait here.”  
  
“Roger that.”  
  
They watched him walk around the corner. As soon as the dark haired detective was out of sight…

   
“Open it.”  
  
“What?”  
  
“I am not leaving without getting inside. Open the door.”  
Ruvik looked at the young woman. His gaze didn’t waver. If she wasn’t going to get that door open then he would do it.

“But that would be breaking and entering! We have no search warrant. If we break open his door we’ll get in trouble.” Her cheeks flushed. She said ‘no’ but she was definitely getting excited at the thought. He could see it clearly on her face.  
Very well, he’d do it.

“Leslie!”  
  
He ignored her and inspected the door more closely. The lock didn’t look too hard to open. If only he had something small and thin…

A light chuckle came from his side. Helen watched him.   
“Well, you’d have more luck throwing yourself against the door until it gives in than trying to pick a safety lock.” She kept her voice down as if someone could listen in on them.   
A single strand of hair kept escaping her hair tie. She brushed it behind her ear.  
  
He tore his eyes off her. Something small.  
“A lock pick.”

“Huh?”

“ Isn’t that part of the usual equipment a police officer or detective should carry around with them at any given time?”  
  
“Not really.” She leaned on the wall near the door and knocked on it. “Your best bet is gnawing on these rotten boards here until you free a nail or something if you want to pick that lock _that bad_. But judging by the sky it’d be far too dark to see what you are doing by then.”

 Rotten.

He brushed over the doorframe. The feeble structure would give in easily.  
“Then we’re **breaking** it open. Help me.” He took a few steps back. “Come here.”

“Are you serious?” Her eyes grew wide as she still leaned against the wall. He waited for her to come at his side. None of them moved until she gave in.   
“You have a bad influence on me, Withers.” The female tried not to grin as they readied themselves for the impact.  
 Then they both darted for the door.

 

***********************************************************************

Sebastian kicked some debris out of his way. Some wooden planks and other materials that almost completely blocked the path into the overgrown backyard.

A few cement steps led to the backdoor. There was no railing and the stairs were covered in mold and crooked. No one seemed to take care of anything in this place. At least the untouched layer of moss made it so he could see that nobody had passed through this way.  
  
‘Fitting for a ruthless, careless drug dealer.’  
  
He checked the door knob. It wasn’t locked. Carelessness confirmed. The detective peeked through the small compartments of the doors window. A coat of dust made it hard to distinguish anything inside the room beyond.

Sebastian sighed and walked backwards to get a better view on the whole façade. If the guy didn’t open the front-  they’d get inside from the back. The detective didn’t care if they had permission to do so. He only wanted to get in, no matter the cost.

Convincing Helen to skip protocol wouldn’t be too hard, would it?  
In this moment, he noticed two things. Something moving behind an open window on the first floor….

And a loud crash.

**********************************************************************

The door had given in the second they touched it. It opened with the sound of dry wood splintering and cracking, allowing them inside.  
A rancid smell and a sweet stench enveloped them immediately as they stumbled inside, clinging to each other- still caught in the force of their own movement.

“Home sweet home…”  
He reluctantly let go of Helen and walked further in. The place looked like it had been wrecked.  
“Looks like someone was searching for something in here.”  
They saw turned over furniture, ripped cushions and open drawers. The contents emptied out and strewn about the whole floor. Dirt was everywhere.  
  
“Yeah…and they left a perfect chaos.” The redhead took a big step over a broken lamp. She peeked into the small corridor that led out of the room. Two doors.  
“Kind of big for a single person…” Helen was talking under her breath again. “That one seems to lead to the kitchen….” She pointed across the room, opposite from where they had entered. The off white door was open just wide enough to show a sink, a small table and chairs. “And then we have some stairs to the first floor. Dear god…”

“Feeling discouraged?” The white haired man took a few deep breaths and stared up the stairs.  
  
“Well at least we can now say we’ve had to come in because we’re concerned. Wrecking the living room like that must have made some noise.” She nudged a few fallen objects with the tip of her shoe and sighed.  

“Quit talking. We might not be alone…” Sebastian entered the room. He’d come through the kitchen and raised a finger to his lips. “And put that thing away.” He nodded at Helen who had, within less than half a second, pulled her gun at him. The Smith and Wesson 45 CPs had been given back to her that morning and she had wasted no time cleaning and readying the gun for today’s investigation.  
The stainless steel slide and barrel glistened in the light and the grip fit perfectly in the palm of her hand.   
It was the ideal extension of her arm and she could feel the sensation of the guns latent force source through her body. Getting it out of the holster and removing the safety in one swift motion had felt so natural, even after all this time.

Sebastian was not her enemy, though. She holstered the firearm and made a mental note not to pull so fast next time. Coming off as trigger happy or too jumpy was the last thing she intended.

‘And natural or not- I am completely out of training. A few rounds at the shooting range are long overdue.’

“Sorry, I guess I am a little too excited for being fully equipped today.”

“Just make sure to keep that gun down for now. We mustn’t cause a ruckus in a place like this- especially when we are out here on our own accords.” He quickly scanned the room and the disarray it was in, then he suddenly asked “Where’s…Leslie?”

“Right he—“ The redhead waved behind herself only to realize that she and the detective were the only ones in the living area of the house. The albino was nowhere to be seen.

“He was here just a second ago, I swear.”   
  
“God damn it. Where is he off to this time?” Sebastian growled. Of course. “He better not be upstairs…”

“You mentioned that we’re not alone…That have anything to do with your concern?” The redhead was placid despite the sudden disappearance of their teammate. Her fingers caressed the grained grip of her newest toy.   
‘Why am I so glad to have you back? You’ve brought nothing but trouble the last time I carried you with me…’

 

Footsteps and the creaking of a door resounded from the higher level of the house.  
“Shit!” The detective made a run for the stairs and effortlessly jumped over the toppled couch that was in his way as he did so.   
“Hey! Wait!” The female followed him, alarmed by his sudden action. Was Leslie upstairs? Together with whoever Sebastian expected to also be in the house?

The mere thought made her pulse quicken- what if their partner was already in danger? Or worse yet- hurt?

The rancid smell they had noticed earlier was stronger on the upper floor. Sweet. Sickening.  
It smelled like…

 

 

“He won’t tell us anything anymore…” The young man slowly rose from his crouched position and silently looked down on the motionless figure in the chair before him.

Cadel Sanchez. He was dead.

Both detectives had covered their noses at the putrid stench that filled the small dingy bedroom they had found the albino and Cadel in. Sebastian lowered his hand and walked closer to the body. The female retreated, saying she was checking the other room on the floor, but in reality she just wanted to get away from the smell, the death and the sight of the clearly mutilated corpse that was tightly strapped to the chair. The redhead leaned against the staircase’s railing and tried to focus. Would she ever get used to things like that? She couldn’t find the answer to that question yet. And she didn’t want to either. Instead, she tried to listen to the slightly muffled voices of the two men that were still studying the deceased.

“He’s been tortured.” Sebastian said dryly.  
  
“Yes. Obviously.”  
  
“This doesn’t look like any kind of torture used for interrogation I know of. Too much visible damage.”  
  
“They’ve been playing. Not for too long though- amateurs in their field, I’d say.”   
  
“What do you mean? You’re the expert on this, tell me.”

 

Helen frowned. What Sebastian had said just now…Leslie? An expert on dirty torture?  
She recalled the mental image she’d still in the back of her head from looking at the man on the chair for a few seconds.  
Yes, the torture this poor guy must had gone through was nothing like the clean techniques used by CIA and other organizations.  
  
Bloody straps on arms, hands and feet showed signs of his struggle. The polymer rope had sliced deep into the now darkened flesh- revealing the layer of white fat and in some places even bone underneath. What pain had he gone through to hurt himself so badly while trying to get free? Her imagination staggered to put the pieces together. Aside from the deep cuts and varying bruises on his bare skin; the blood-crusted mouth and nose of the victim had looked deformed and discolored. Blunt trauma from an object or hits with a fist?  
  
Leslie’s voice was heard again, he slowly and emotionlessly started to comment on the various things that stood out. The female listened. Was the fairy prince much less of a fairy prince than she’d imagined? Maybe he wasn’t using his free time on being magical and fairy-like and spent hours on reading up on gore and other stuff instead…did that fit to the innocent looking, serious young man?

“Needles, wires. They’ve focused on sensitive spots on his hands, neck and face. He must have had some information…or had done something wrong. Either way, this is the work of a playing child. They let him die…too quickly.”  
  
“So you think they stopped because they got what they wanted?”  
  
“I see no other reason. They could have done much more had they wanted to.“  
  
‘Let him die too quickly.’ Sebastian disgustedly watched the albino touch the corpse. ‘What are you looking at? A human? A thing? Something to play with until it breaks?’ Anger started welling up inside his mind but he forced himself to swallow it back down.   
  
“Huh. They fed it to him.”

“What? The drug?”

“Yes.” Ruvik picked up not only one but two empty blister packages with the known logo on it.  
’LIGHT’  
Then he pointed at the dead man’s face. “His eyes are the same as of the other one.” Not waiting for the detective to bend forward to get a closer look he simply grabbed a chunk of the bodies’ hair and pulled the head back. The mouth opened with a wet smacking sound and released a throaty sigh into the otherwise silent room. Excess air that had been trapped inside exited the deceased’s lungs accompanied by a mouthful of blackish red liquid.  
Sebastian looked into the glossed over blind eyes. Ruvik was right. The same white glaze they had seen on ‘Sally’ covered the iris and pupils.

“So what now?”

“We can cut him open and see how far he’s ingested the drug before he died. Since we already have a sample of the substance we could also just leave him like this and search the house for any information or clues his ‘previous employers’  might have missed to take with them. If the sloppy work they did on him is a sign for their way of working we are likely to find something.”

“You’re already done with him?”

“He is dead. What do you want me to do to him?” The purplish eyes peered at him questioningly.  
Yes, the man was dead.

‘What fun is it to play with somebody else’s laid-off toys, huh? You’re uninterested because others finished the good part, isn’t it?’ Sebastian ignored the question and walked out of the room.   
“Helen.”

“Ah! Yeah, sorry, I just—“ She tried to apologize for leaving.

“Don’t think about it. We’ve got to search the house. Make sure to look everywhere. Should you find anything that looks suspicious or just interesting- tell me. Notebooks, calendars, letters. You know the routine. I’ll be downstairs, checking the rooms there.”

“Uh, what about that whole ‘we night not be alone’ thing ?”

“Be careful. It could have just been a curtain blowing in the wind but in any case you still got your reflexes. And your little friend.” He slightly flinched at this encouragement to make use of the gun. If what he had heard about the female detective was true then she’d indeed be in no trouble should there be someone. But it also meant something else and he refused to think about it in this moment.

“Alright. Leslie will search the bedroom?” She halfway turned to look back into the room but looked back at him before she caught sight of the body again. It was turning her stomach even more than the corpse in the morgue. That one had been cleaned and prepared to show to them. This one…not.

“Yeah. Let’s not waste more time. I want to get out of here as soon as possible.”

“Ok.”

*************************************************************************

 

Ruvik still looked at the corpse. The work of a dilatant. This man had been subject to torture for at best a few hours before they had let him slip away into the darkness. That was nothing compared to the prolonged amounts of time he had been able to keep his subjects alive, back when he had still been working on STEM for Mobius.   
He had perfectioned his methods. And he had to do so.  
Bringing body and mind to their ultimate limits to pierce into the very core of their consciousness had been absolutely necessary to get the results needed.

‘And everything I did to them- I experienced myself.’

Yes, just one aspect of STEM that had been part of his fascination….motivation. He had felt their pain, felt their fear.

‘Still, nothing compared…’

His hand went up to his face. Fingertips brushed against the soft skin of his new body’s cheek. The feeling stood in sharp contrast to that which he had felt for decades when reaching for his own face.  
Leathery and uneven. That had been the structure of the scar tissue that had covered more than half of his body’s surface back then.

“Leslie.” The voice came from the doorway. He turned and looked over to the redhead halfway peeked through the door. She was trying hard not to look inside. “I am in the room next door if you need me. There’s tons of stuff in there. Papers and drawers stuffed with loads of small things…mostly uninteresting stuff, but you never know. It’d be nice if you could help me go through everything in there once you’re done checking this room.”

“Understood.”

“Ok.” She left and he observed the room itself for a first time. Up until now he had solely focused on ‘Cadel Sanchez’ earthly remains.

There wasn’t much to see, though. The bed was covered in ragged worn out sheets. He pulled them off the mattress and lifted the same one to check underneath. Nothing. The seams hadn’t been tampered with either. He’d know.

If there was one thing his own paranoia had taught him, then it was where and how to hide things- and, by implication, where to look for hidden things and places meant to keep another one’s secrets safe.

After inspection of the only other piece of furniture in the room, a small nightstand, as well as floor and walls, he had nothing left to do. Ruvik was just about to leave the room to join the young woman in her search when he paused.

His foot had hit the doorframe. And it had moved. Just slightly. A few crumbs of white paint spilled to the ground and mixed with the dust and dirt that seemed to be everywhere.  
He pulled at the frame and sure enough it moved again.  
  
‘So obvious I didn’t even expect it to be an option…’

He pulled harder and more debris fluttered down, now also covering his shoulders and head. Finally the frame gave of a screeching noise as it was torn off the wall and fell to the ground. A hole came in sight. The narrow space inside the wall was filled with a plastic bag and a tattered book.

Ruvik grabbed for the bag and opened it. Money. A secret stash of financial support for rainy days?  
He tossed the bag with dollar bills aside and grabbed for the thick book that was left in the small hole.

The albino risked a quick look.

Notes on deals. Some simple calculations and addresses. Names.

Probably something to keep track of his business in? He flipped through the pages. Nonsense. Irrelevant information on addicts and when and where Sanchez had met them. Ruvik wanted to discard the useless item when he read a small note scribbled onto the edge of one of the later pages.

 

‘Whatever is inside that ‘LIGHT’ shit kills people. Not trying it until I know more. Money is money though. And Doyle is not one to fuck with so…sell away~’

A few pages after that:  
‘Some weird ass looking guy bumped into me last night. Eyes reflected the light or something. Thought he was a cat when he sat in that dark corner. Laughed at me and thanked me. Freak. What for?’

The next page:

‘I have seen that guy again. He smells so rotten I knew it was him before I turned around. Said something like ‘They all die because they don’t know…if they joined us we’d light your way to cross the waters.’ Then he laughed again and handed me some old napkin. Wanted to throw it away but there is something written on it. Looks like a map. Crazy motherfucker.’

A folded napkin was stacked into the back of the planner. Ruvik  unfolded it.  
No words accompanied the lines, arrows and small pictures that indeed looked like a rudimental map.   
He grinned and pocketed the new clue. Then he left the room.

 

*****************************************************************************

“I hate my job…” Helen was standing in front of a desk that was piled with stacks upon stacks of paper.

“I really, really ,really, really, REALLY hate my job…”

She glanced at the pile of dirty magazines she had just minutes before pulled out under a cupboard and shuddered at the thought of what she had touched.   
‘No amount of hand washing will ever make me comfortable again…for I, Helen, have touched a dead man’s private and probably often used selection of fap material…’

She thought for a moment.

‘Then again…just yesterday I thought no amount of teeth-brushing will ever make me feel comfortable again, too…’

Helen sighed and resumed going through the abnormal amounts of old advertisement brochures, print screens and newspapers. This guy had definitely been some kind of hoarder.  
And he had no taste whatsoever. Who needed an inflatable two meter high T-Rex toy anyways?  
  
To think she had been flattered to get hit on by that guy. ‘Imagine he’d taken you home into his dump deluxe…’ She pulled on one of the desks drawers and found herself holding the knob in her hand. ‘Yeah, no…thank you. That’s not the kind of classy I would like. Actually, that’s not classy at all. I don’t want Doyle- classy…I don’t even know what I want but this is not it!’ She flung the knob into a corner and growled loudly.

“Found anything yet?” Leslie had finally come. The Unicorn had come to the rescue- the fairy prince would use his magic and save her from the workload. And then they would ride into the sunset together and he would tell her about all the newest torture methods he had seen on fairyland TV. Maybe. Not.

“Nothing at all. I don’t understand this. Why come here- wreck downstairs- kill that man—  
if there was no real reason to? Mobius, huh…that’s so…”

“Mobius is not responsible for this. Sebastian is right- no organization as big as Mobius would leave such a chaos or torture in ways like that. Someone else must have sent their lackeys here to fix the possible leak. Maybe at Mobius request- but with a different way of art.”

Art. He made it sound as if killing a helpless being had some kind of artistic value…  
Which reminded her:

“How do you know so much about torture? Does it have to do with them?”

“Them.”

“Mobius. I thought, maybe…you know…” she paused and waited for his answer.

I wanted those who hurt us to suffer as much as we did.  
They deserved it.  
Their immeasurable pain and death gave me a sense of peace and satisfaction you will never understand.

And:  
 They… _furthered my research._

There were countless answers to give. But none of them were for her to hear.  
  
Speechless, he felt the silence between them. It lingered and grew bigger with each passing second.  
“I—“  
Ruvik couldn’t look at her for some reason. Something, anything to get make this moment be over and done with. Why was he so intent on hiding this from her? Why did he even care?

“Hey…” The redhead suddenly put her hand on his arm.  A slight touch. The soft yet firm grip of another being . His eyes found hers but she wasn’t looking at him. “What’s that smell?” She gently pushed him out of the way and opened the door.  
“Shit! LESLIE, STEP BACK!”

He, too, smelled it now. Saw it.   
Too late. It was already spreading- and fast. 

Ruvik’s mind went blank.   
All of a sudden, he was back there, to that day. In that barn.

 

 

No, he was still in this house.

 

 

 

He was not ten years old anymore.

 

But…

 

Then, why did the feel so frightened and helpless at the sight of these flames?


	12. Chapter 11: Up in Flames

 

_‘…ben!’_

_Dry air, smoke and dust in his lungs.  
  
‘Ruben!’_

_Heat melting his skin, eating away at his flesh.  
The strong hands of his sister pushing him through the narrow window and out of the barn.  
  
‘You have to climb!’_

_A short fall.  
Impact.  
And then the tiny bits and pieces of straw poking into the raw wounds, into the exposed layer of fat and muscle. With tear-filled eyes he looked back up at the small building. Flames already engulfed the wooden structure completely. He could hear them devouring the easily flammable material in and outside of it.  
And…screams.   
  
He needed to get help! He needed to move!_

_The screams of his sister filled his ears!  
  
But he couldn’t. Overwhelmed by the pain and the fear he couldn’t move an inch.  
The small boy pressed his charred cheek into the dirt and closed his eyes shut.   
He wept helplessly.  
  
And the roaring flames soon drowned out the dying cries that came out of the barn.  
  
_

_And_

_he couldn’t move._

  
  
“I’m sorry…! I am sorry…”  
  
“SNAP OUT OF IT!”   
  
Ruben opened his eyes to the bewildered face of his partner. Helen had shaken him violently to get him out of his trance-like state. “Can you hear me?! We have to get out of here, Leslie!” He looked at her confusedly and only now did he notice that he was on the floor, kneeling.  
  
“We have to move or we’re done for! Come on, get up!” She grabbed onto his arms but he wouldn’t move a single centimeter. “LESLIE!”

“…”

“I am not leaving you here!” She frantically looked around them for a solution, a way out, anything.  
The smoke was already dyeing the air a sickly greyish color. The redhead covered her mouth with the hem of her jacket and tried to do the same to the unresponsive albino.  
  
‘Oh, you will…’ His eyes were fixed to the ground. Could this fire give him peace? He was the only one knowing that he’d been in his very own hell ever since that day. This special flame called **guilt** had slowly but surely blackened his soul beyond recognition.  
The man lifted his gaze to the face of the female in front of him.   
‘You will leave me like the others. Because I am a monster.’

He was looking at her- and then again she wasn’t sure if he was even recognizing her face.   
“We’ll die! Do you listen? We will burn if we stay in here! Leslie you have to get up!” Helen wrapped her arms around the young man’s waist and tried to pull him up. Panicking, she couldn’t focus her strength and let go again, letting out a desperate whimper. Another quick glance behind them confirmed the danger they were in. Hungry, flaming tongues already licked at the lacquered wooden doorframe. The fire was spreading fast. How had she failed to notice this?  
Arson? But there hadn’t been the traitorous smell of gasoline in the house, had there?

No…

Somewhere in another room she heard the sound of breaking glass. The heat inside must have already reached dangerous levels. If they didn’t hurry now they’d soon be blocked and trapped inside this room; awaiting a certain, fiery death.

‘I can’t drag him out through the fire like this…’ she thought.   
She looked at him and cupped his face. Their eyes met. “Leslie…” Helen let out a sigh.

Then, amidst the destruction, she hugged him.

 

Ruben’s eyes widened. When had the last time been that someone had held him like that?   
A whole lifetime, it seemed. There was peace within her caress. Silence.  Would they stay like this until the end? He felt himself relax at the thought, shifting his weight, cradling deeper into the soft and soothing warmth.   
Yes, he had wanted her around him. Why not admit to it now, in his final moments. He had started to enjoy this woman’s company without being able to explain why.   
Taking her with him. What better way to make her all his?

He felt her inhale and closed his eyes. Selfish, yes, but he feared no judgement right now.  
  
  
  
Then he got pushed away.   
“I am sorry…” She pulled back and stood up.  
Her mouth opened as if she wanted to say something, but instead she just turned around and practically plowed through the increasing flames outside the open door.

She had left.

She had left him after all.

Of course. What a foolish dream. He scoffed at his own stupidity.   
‘I knew and yet…’  
It still hurt. Or was it just the heat in his lungs burning in his chest?  
The only one who would stay with him forever, to remind him of his debt…  
‘You’ve waited for this day, haven’t you? I can almost feel your claws around my neck…’

He could see it with his inner eye. The crawling figure, coming closer and closer, reaching out for him with long sharp nails on its big hands and fingers.  
  
‘You wanted to pull me into the flames ever since I failed to help you …like you helped me…’

The creature let out a blood curdling scream and—

_SPLASH_

Water poured over him. An empty bucket clattered to the floor and a not second later another torrent of cold water showered him and soaked through his hair and clothes.   
Before him stood the redhead, throwing away an empty bucket, completely drenched herself.  
  
“You’re coming with me now, want it or not!” Her tone was firm.  
  
“You came back…”

“Of course I came back!” She held her hand out for him, still dripping with water. “Are you back to yourself? Can you stand up?”  
  
He took it and came to his feet. “Good.” She nodded and turned to the blazing hallway in front of them. “The smoke is getting real thick; we got to hurry before we get too dizzy. You can close your eyes and I’ll drag you out of here…but I’d rather not risk you falling down the stairs and breaking your neck…”

“I am fine.” He swallowed. Their hands were clasped tightly.   
“Sorry for leaving you, by the way…I was…”

“Don’t mention it- we’re short on time, aren’t we?”

“Uh, yes. Yeah, you’re right. Alright- don’t think, just run, ok?”

***************************************************************************

Sebastian closed the cupboard and moved on to the next one. This one was also empty besides a few toiletries and a dead spider in the corner. Searching the lower level of the house should have been the harder task but turned out to be a quick thing to do.   
There was hardly anything of interest left in the rooms on the ground floor. The contents of most of the furniture pieces had already been taken out and gone through, by other people.  
‘Who has left the house in such a mess? Mobius? No…Ruvik is right. That’s not like them.’

He lit a cigarette and tried to think. The smoke wouldn’t hurt the already yellowed wallpapers more than the obvious mold that made them come down in more than one place.

The detective continued to sort through the diverse items on the floor and waved the smoke away from time to time. He got up from his crouching position when he heard footsteps outside the room.   
“Found anything yet?” he said while opening the door.  
  
Sebastian was met with a strong sulfuric smell…and a person, not Helen or Ruvik, completely dressed and disguised in white cloth.

Before he could react, the stranger whipped out a small box and lit a single match. The brown haired man had just about enough time to step back before the burning match was thrown to the ground and came into contact with the white powder that now covered the ground in front of him.  
‘Flammables?’

Blinding white flames immediately erupted from the area of impact and shot up to the ceiling.   
The person stood behind the wall of flames for a second and then got out of his field of view.

“Shit! HEY!”

He ran through the flames without thinking - following this guy had top priority now. The person in white jumped over the fallen furniture in the entrance room with ease and ran through the kitchen door, slamming it shut behind them. Sebastian followed suit. He practically rammed the previously shut door out of its hinges and saw them leave into the backyard.   
‘Oh no, you’re not getting away!’

He chased after them, taking all the strength and stamina his legs and lungs had to offer. Through the backdoor, down the slippery, moldy steps and over the clutter and garbage that he’d already crossed once to get into the house. He got closer, inching his way up to the fleeing one in a matter of seconds.   
A small surprised yelp escaped the person’s mouth as he got a grip on their back and wrestled them to the ground. Sebastian yanked one of their arms across and up their back while holding them down with his own weight.   
The strangers body was thin- skin and bones and no muscle. And as close as he’d gotten now; he could smell that they stunk to high heaven.   
A rotten mix of sweat, old smoke and other unpleasant odors.  
The stranger struggled for a bit and then calmed down. There was no way he’d be able to shake the detective off.   
“Who are you? Speak!” Sebastian put some more pressure onto the persons arm. He’d break it if he had to. “Who are you working for? Mobius??”

The small cry of pain subsided at his question and was shortly after replaced by a low chuckle.   
‘What the hell is wrong with you?’

“Answer me!” Another yank at the arm- another outcry. More laughter.

‘He’s insane…?’ The detective slightly shifted in his position. He put one of his knees on the arsonists back and used his free hand to grab at the mask. It was as white as the rest of the clothes they wore. He tore it off in one go. A small vermillion inked tattoo covered the person’s temple.  Seb didn’t waste much time looking at the motive- his gaze was fixed on something else.  
  
“You’re eyes…”

“I can see you- better than you can see yourself!” The person fell into another fit of laughter.  
“WE…HAVE OPENED OUR EYES…TO THE LIGHT!!”

Sebastian was taken aback. The eyes that focused on him where completely white. A silver shimmer reflected from inside them. He’d seen eyes like this before.   
Haunting, terrifying. They were the same as the ones that man had possessed. Ruvik.

“Who did this to you…?” He had unknowingly loosened his grip on the other one and they slowly came onto their hands and knees before crawling backwards a little. Sebastian was too dumbfounded to do anything but stare. Those eyes…

Hypnotized by the hollow stare he watched them rise.

“Did this…?” The man let out a sickening laugh before he opened his arms in a big gesture. “We! We found the way ourselves!! Those…dark ones…they don’t matter. They can’t harm us…or him.”  
  
‘Dark ones? Him?’

The cryptic words confused him more than anything and Seb groaned wearily. That small bit of running just then had taken more of his energy than he’d expected.   
He should really give up on his smoking one of these days…

A wide grin appeared on the tattooed face. The man in white was looking at the house. Smoke came from the windows on the upper floor. And then it hit Sebastian like a rock. The others were still inside that burning hell!

*********************************************************************************

Flames.  
Heat.  
The smell of burnt wood and cloth.  
  
Ruvik had caught glimpse of the brightly burning corpse for a split second. Body and chair were set ablaze and formed a torch of flesh and timber, spreading a sweet and musky odor paired with the smell of copper and burnt liver.  
  
He focused on Helen in an effort to shut out the hell that had broken lose around them. His eyes traveled over her back trying to find something to hang onto.   
  
The wet hair of his female partner had taken on a vermillion tint. The wet streaks clung to the skin of her neck and her collar.   
  
Red hair.   
Pale skin. 

A familiar hand clutching onto his, guiding him through the narrow path in-between the flames.  
Still so cold and appeasing…  
  
He stumbled on the stairs and she yanked on his arm to keep him upright. “We’re almost there! Come on!”  
And really, there was the front door, lying on the ground just as they’d left it.   
  
*************************************************************************

Sebastian grabbed onto the both of them as they appeared in the doorway.   
Together, they stumbled away from the burning house and slumped down on the dry grass in a safe distance.  
The redhead was coughing quite badly from the smoke inside and the albino almost looked like he was…himself? Like the innocent, scared mental hospital patient Sebastian had once tried to protect from his highly intelligent enemy.  
The frail body in the wet clothes was shivering and the pale purplish eyes where as big as saucers.  His hand was still grabbing on Helen’s.   
  
‘Figures…that guy must have gotten the scare of his life in there. Ruvik and fire…that just doesn’t mix well.’

He looked around for a bit.   
The strange man had used the opportunity to run away.

Dark ones.  
Him.  
White eyes.

Sebastian would have to talk to Ruvik about this later. He still wasn’t sure what to make of the fact that the self-acclaimed scientist had told Helen ‘something’ about the case. Obviously it couldn’t have been the truth- otherwise the female detective would have been long gone and left the team for good by now.  
Much less helped that guy out of a burning house.  
  
Burning rubble crashed down from the building’s roof and more windows shattered in the all devouring heat. The first floor was burning much more badly than the lower one. Sebastian must have interrupted the guy in white in his work.  
  
“No one’s…coming…?” Helen muttered between a few coughs. She was still sitting on the ground next to the albino. Her eyes were bloodshot and she narrowed them to slits to see if anyone was nearby.   
There was not a single soul on the streets. Had no one noticed the fire yet? Impossible.   
Castellanos scanned the nearby houses. Curtains moved behind closed windows- the neighborhood was well aware of the fire. There was just no one willing to get closer to the place.

“I’ll go make a call... You two are alright by yourselves?” He looked down on them. They were shaken up but seemed to have gotten a little better already.  
Sebastian went to the car to call the firefighters- and Dr Kugel. The fire needed to be put out and his partners needed to be checked up. Could he trust the coroner to give them medical support without telling anyone else?  
‘I guess I’ll find out sooner than later. We’d better be gone before anyone official arrives here though…’  
He picked up the phone and started to dial.

*****************************************************************************

“Hey, are you feeling a little better?”  
Helen looked at the albino and gave his hand a light squeeze. He hadn’t let go of her until now.  
“Leslie…”   
‘Is he shutting off again? Oh please, don’t tell me he does- it scares the crap out of me to see him like that… so scary…and sad.’  
The young man didn’t answer her. He kept staring to the ground; his labored breathing was still audible. She watched him frown and felt the grip of his hand on hers loosening. His fingers slowly unwrapped and slid over the skin of her palm, then her fingers and fingertips. As if trying to feel them each in detail before pulling back completely.

“Thank you.” He mumbled under his breath.  
  
‘He’s okay…I guess.’   
“Don’t thank me. I am glad we’re both out of there in one piece. Unimaginable what could have happened…” She shuddered. “And all of that for nothing!”   
‘Yes, all of that for nothing’, she thought, ‘Thanks for nothing, Doyle! Thanks for being a dick and then don’t even making up for it, Doyle!’  
The redhead started ripping out bits and pieces of the dry grass in front of them.   
‘One awful day after another…’  
  
“No…NO! It’s not here!”   
  
Helen looked at Leslie. He was checking his pockets and his jacket hectically.   
“It’s gone…?” The fabric had already started drying off a little in the short amount of time they’d needed to get out of the house.   
“What? Did you lose something in there?” Her hands were still grabbing onto the grass but her eyes were now fixed on the pale purple ones of his. They turned to her for a split second, then immediately switched their gaze on the burning house.  
  
“In there…” He had stopped in mid motion and let his arms sink to his sides. “I must have dropped it…in there.”  
  
“What did you drop?” The redhead perked her ears. ‘Something important? It has to be- judging by his expression.’  
  
“He had a book and a map…I took it. I had it in my pocket…” The albino was fumbling on his jacket again. His eyes were filled with confusion and disbelief.   
  
The female continued to interrogate further. “Where did you last have it and what did it look like?”  
She felt her pulse quicken. A book. A map. Her smartass of a partner wouldn’t take anything with him if it didn’t have any significance on the case, would he?  
That stuff just had to have some kind of value. She stared over to the house. To the broken down door. Then back at Leslie.

He had covered his face with his hands and was groaning.   
“Black, small, tattered and filled with notes and that map in the back. I still had it when we got to the stairs…”

Ruvik bent over and pressed his head on the dirty ground. With his hands in his back he let out a muffled yell into the dried leaves and the dead moss of the unkempt front yard they sat in. Her stupid questions wouldn’t help them now. They’d gotten out of the fire- but at what price?  
His anger manifested in another outcry. The albino slammed his fists on the dirt.  
Wasn’t she going to ask him more?  
He’d answer her.   
He’d scream in her face.   
Grab her.   
Pull her close.  
And then—  
**_  
These_** thoughts again. And they got worse each time. He sighed into the grass trying to shake the urge off of himself.  
‘I shouldn’t have let her touch me.’ Yes, her embrace in that room. The way he had felt just then. The scent of her hair, the feeling of her skin. Her heartbeat against his chest.

Ruvik opened his eyes a little. ‘She came back.’  
He sat up again. The anger had vanished.   
  
And so had Helen.

*********************************************************************************

  
‘Bad idea, bad idea, BAD IDEA!’ Helen repeated the words in her head like a mantra while she jogged closer to the entrance of the house. There was already thick smoke pouring out of the opening and the radiating heat greeted her although she was still two steps from the doorway.  
  
‘Small, black, tattered. I can do this. Go in. Look for the book. Get out.’  
She took another step towards the gaping mouth of the burning hell she’d escaped only minutes before.  
‘Just don’t breathe. No big deal…’  
The redhead took a deep breath and entered. Billows of smoke hung in the air and most of the place was on fire by now. She walked in further, a hand over her mouth and her eyes squinting from the dry heat. ‘At least it’s not dark in here. **_Ha-ha_**.’ She thought, cynically.  
Her gaze wandered over the floor as she carefully traced their steps from the door to the stairs.   
There was no book between the rubbish.   
Helen felt her lungs starting to demand for fresh air but she couldn’t breathe in just yet. She needed to hurry, find the item Leslie had lost and get out of here as fast as she could.  
She looked up the stairs and into the clouds of fume that came drifting down from the first floor.  
The fire was slowly coming down to her; literally step by step; and just about half a meter below it was a small, black and tattered object on the ground.  
  
‘HA! FOUND YOU!’    
  
With a few quick skips over the furniture she was on the stairs. Helen grinned. This had been much, much easier than she had expected.  
  
‘I came in, looked for the book, FOUND the book—‘

She reached out for the small item and pressed it against her chest.  
  
‘—and now I’ll get out!’  
**********************************************************************  
  
“Where is Helen?!”

Sebastian had come back to find the female detective gone and Ruvik staring at the flaming building across the front yard intently.  His fists were clenched and his face was almost white.  
  
“She must have gone back inside…”  
  
“What!?” The detective violently grabbed the albinos shoulders and pulled him closer. “And you just stood and watched her go back in?!”   
  
Ruvik tried to shake Sebastian off but the body he now inhabited wasn’t strong enough to withstand the detectives grip. He glared at the man. “I didn’t know she was going to go back.”  
  
“And why would she? There’s no reason to set foot into that fire pit again…” Sebastian was infuriated. In  his mind he was already halfway inside the house, searching for the redhead. Why? Why go back inside??  
“Why did she go back?” His fingers pressed harder into the murderers shoulder. With this much force anyone else would have flinched in pain by now- but the man before him was too used to pain much worse than that than to give him any reaction- as much as he’d wanted to see him do it.  
  
“She…” he couldn’t finish his sentence anymore as he was cut off by a small scream that came out of the house.  
  
Both men stared in the same direction.   
  
Ruvik’s eyes widened.   
‘No, you’re not dying in there. NOT AFTER YOU SAVED ME!’ 

He couldn’t possibly go back into the flames.  
But—  
  
  
****************************************************************************

The floor had given in.   
With a loud noise of breaking and screeching wood, the step Helen had stood on, had caved in underneath her feet, sending her falling down with the bits and pieces that clattered onto the cemented floor of the basement below.  
In blind desperation she had grabbed on anything she could get to keep her from hitting the hard surface. The book still pressed against her with cramped fingers she screamed as her free hand got burned by the sizzling fire on the steps she clung to. She had to keep holding onto the burning step in order not to fall and so she bit back the tears.   
The adrenaline surging through her veins gave her enough energy to pull her lower body back up but it couldn’t mend the pain she felt as the flames washed over her flesh. With a last effort she pushed herself up and out of the hole, crawling away from the fire.   
Her face was a mask of pain as she suffocated the flames that had already gotten hold of her sleeve. Looking at the damage it had done to her hand was almost hurting as much as trying to comfort herself by clutching it to her chest.   
Her mind was unable to process what had just happened but luckily at least her survival instincts had kicked in and saved her.  
She still had the book; that was all she could think.  
  
‘I came in, I got the book, I almost died…’  
She tried to stand up, took a step forward and immediately fell back down. A sharp pain seized through her leg. Helen whimpered and looked down. Red liquid dyed the fabric of her pants left leg. It came from a cut on her outer thigh and seeped through the textile. The wood of the stairs must have had ripped through her pants when she fell.  
‘I am bleeding…’   
Now she was crying. The redhead sunk down and sniffed. She was starting to feel lightheaded. Was it because of the smoke or was she loosing so much blood from the cut? Was it deep?  
She was too scared to touch the wound and find out.  
  
‘This feels like dying…I know it…’  
She closed her eyes. This wasn’t the first time she felt it. Yes.  
Just two years ago. In another place.   
Had she really wanted to die back then?  
But she hadn’t died, had she?  
  
‘Oh, how tragic.’ Helen thought with a small chuckle. ‘Just when I had decided it could still be worth to try…living…’  Her leg was limp from the knee downwards. Every try to move it sent a wave of roaring pain through the rough cut on her thigh. The flames had started to surround her- slowly but undoubtedly closing in on the woman, filling the air with their intense heat and making it hard to breathe.

_She shouldn’t even be here. I should have never brought her back…never…_

‘You’re right. I don’t belong here…or anywhere. Father.’  
The fire was almost touching her now. Like the antlers of an insect, searching for signals of life and nuisance, it was hungrily reaching out for her flesh.   
Maybe this was okay.   
Maybe this was what she had wanted after all. ‘No going back this time- this time…’  
She smiled, dizzy and tired. ‘…no divine intervention, right?’  
The redhead lifted herself up on her elbow and rubbed her eyes. The sharp smoke made them sting and water with tears. She looked around, taking in the surrounding scenery of incinerating, slowly crumbling debris, when it happened.  
  
Again.   
  
The air started to flicker- not from the heat but from a static disturbance right next to her. The image was vague and blurry for a moment before it fully materialized. It was that of a pale figure dressed in white, tattered robes that stood in stark contrast to the red flames enclosing it.   
  
The ghost.

He had appeared again. And this time he was looking directly at her.

*************************************************************************

The albino had slumped down on his knees and hands. Sebastian crouched down beside him and confusedly stared at the vacant look in the eyes of his former enemy.   
They were almost completely closed and rolled up. Ruvik was mumbling to himself.

“What the hell is going on with you now?”   
  
The other man groaned and continued to mutter words that the other couldn’t decipher.   
  
******************************************************************************

His mouth was moving but she couldn’t hear a single word. Was the fire around them too loud?  
From the look on his face it seemed like he was angry with her.  
For what? Giving up?  
‘Give me a break…can’t you see I am hurt?’  
She looked at him. He was much closer this time and there was also no glass separating her from the man in the robe.   
  
What caught her attention before anything else were his eyes yet again. So bright and clear.  
His lips moved and revealed perfect white teeth every now and then.   
  
No hobo had good teeth.   
  
‘So that’s one thing we can strike off our list…and if I remember correctly, hobos also don’t appear and vanish into thin air like ghosts or magical creatures…’  
  
Whatever he was- he had stopped talking and was now looking at her with an expectant look in his eyes. The sharp features didn’t move. She just couldn’t stop staring at the eyes, nose and lips of the man.   
  
‘He IS good looking…if you look past the scars…then again…maybe they add to that? Yeah, must be because I am getting high on burning fumes but... I’d tap that…’ She smiled.  
Had he come to take her with him? If so- no problems there.   
  
Maybe he was death. Or something similar to that. She kept staring at him. Yes, she liked his face.   
‘His chest is also nice…not to mention those hips …’ With a little less self-control her stare could have easily lingered on the area close to the hem of his pants for unhealthy amounts of time.  
But this was neither the time nor the place for activities like that.  
  
She took her last bit of strength and slowly started standing up. He was the one that had appeared in the mental hospital. The monster could have easily killed her back then but it had left as soon as he had arrived. ‘Maybe you’ve come to early last time…’  
  
Or maybe he had come to save her?  
  
Helen looked at him with a questioning look. Their eyes met and she formed the words without knowing she was actually talking out loud. Her voice was staggering; it had a pleading tone to it that she hadn’t heard from herself even once in all her twenty-seven years.  
  
“Did you?”

He returned her stare, obviously not understanding what the hell the female was talking about. Or maybe he couldn’t hear her like she couldn’t hear him? She pondered.  
Then all of a sudden his eyes fixated on a point above her and his confused look turned into one of terror. His mouth opened into a silent yell as his eyes widened.  
  
Helen looked up as well and not a second too early.  
She was only able to throw herself off the stairs milliseconds before  a heap of burning rubble and parts of the ceiling collapsed right onto the spot she had been in.  
  
‘That could have been me…’  
The detectives’ eyes wandered from the pile of wood and building material to the robed man.  
  
‘You did.’  
  
 “Thank you.” She hugged the organizer in her arms tighter. There was no time to get all melodramatic. She had a mission.

‘I came in, got the book, almost died, and then almost died again….and now I’ll get out.’  
  
With new motivation the female detective limped towards the entrance. Her leg and hand hurt like hell but for some reason she couldn’t afford to make herself look weak in presence of her ‘ghostly’…guardian?  
  
She kept moving and emerged into the light of the day outside. A mouthful of fresh air made her cough almost uncontrollably. But it tasted good and felt unbelievably much better than anything else.

“Helen!” The male detective came running towards her and helped her walk. Leslie was still in the same spot she’d left him. The triumphant pose she tried to strike, while holding the book out for him to see, turned out a little weak, but her smile made up for that.   
‘I am a HERO! Bow to me, fairy prince, for I have made the impossible….POSSIBLE!’  
She readied herself for the incoming praise.  
  
“Who told you to get back in there!?” Was all she got in return.   
He was angry- she could see it on his face. And not just a little.   
  
“I brought back the holy grail…”  
  
He ignored her rebuttal. “Let me see your hand.”   
She pouted and reluctantly showed it to him. Part of her fingers and her palm were blackened with soot. It wasn’t so much the palm but more of the back of her hand and wrist that had gotten burned badly. Blisters started to grow in some places and were already swelling with lymph water.   
“Could have been worse…” He knelt down and inspected her leg. His hands squeezed on it directly above and underneath the cut on her thigh and she had to hold onto Sebastian in order not to fall and curl up in a ball from the pain that it sent through her. The black book fell to the ground.  
  
‘YES- THAT’S MY LEG YOU’RE KILLING THERE!’ She yelled at him inwardly.  
  
Leslie stood back up. He pulled a strand of hair out of the females face and put it behind her ear. “It’ll heal and you’ll be fine…” It sounded like he said it to himself more than to her. His expression showed just the tiniest hint of satisfaction and…relief?  
  
“We’ll take you to the hospital. Can you walk to the car?” Seb watched the albino. The man had gotten to his senses again only mere seconds before the female detective had shown up in the doorway. It had looked like he was about to faint afterwards but now he was scolding the redhead and checking up on her as if nothing had happened. And he had reacted to her state as if he’d already known where to look for her injuries beforehand.   
‘What did you do just then?’  
  
“I feel a little dizzy but I guess it’s alright…if you guys lend me a hand or two…”  
  
Sebastian saw Ruvik making motions to help the girl and picked her up before the other one could do anything. “I got her.”  
He started carrying her towards the car.   
‘I don’t know what it is that’s happening here but I don’t like it…’  
  
Behind them, the albino picked up the tattered notebook and glanced at it briefly before looking at the detectives. The woman looked over the males shoulder and back at him. Then her gaze wandered over to the still burning house.  
It seemed as if her eyes were searching for something in the illuminated windows.  
  
Something….or someone.


	13. Chapter 12: Giving in

 

“Impossible, inacceptable, unforgivable!!!”  
  
The short heighted coroner nervously paced back and forth in his morgue. Every other second he cast a quick glance at the redhead sitting on his examination table and the albino at the woman’s side that continued to rinse her hand with cool water.  
  
“This is a morgue! Not an examination room and absolutely not a place to treat the living!” Dr Kugel tore at his thinning hair and let out a desperate yowl. “Oh, this is less than marvelous! It’s bad luck- a bad omen!! Castellanos, I agreed to meet with you here- but there was never a word of THIS!”

“Settle down, Kugel, it won’t take long and no one will ever hear a word of it, I promise.” Sebastian merely glanced at the round man for a second before turning his attention on the small tattered notebook once again. He flipped through the pages one by one and skimmed the contents.  
The chicken scratch of the dead drug dealer was giving him a headache already. Too many sloppily written notes on the sides of each short paragraph. Too many names and numbers. Going through them one after another would take…long.  
He quickly lifted his stare from the pages to take a look at the female detective.  
‘Then again- we’ll have more than enough time checking up on all that while she’s recovering…’  
Seb let out a deep sigh and leaned back against the cold iron counter whilst continuing to flip through the notebook.

 

  
  
“Does it hurt?”  
  
“It hurts like hell….”  
  
“That’s good.”

  
“Good!?” The redhead stared at the albino in awe: The stinging, burning pain in her hand was supposed to be good?  
 “You’re joking, right?”  
She looked at him with one eye closed as he turned off the faucet on the tables head and carefully started drying off the excess water from her hand.  
His touch was gentle and assuasive. He had checked up on her while they were on their way to the hospital to make sure she was okay…and now he was taking care of the burn wound too.  
His expression seemed so concentrated and every move he made felt…practiced. Experienced.  
  
‘I still don’t know nearly as much about you as I should, right? Well you’re A+ with a gold star in medicine, that’s for sure.’  
  
 She leaned to the side a little to get into a more comfortable position. ‘I wanted to keep an eye on you to make sure you’re okay…and now you’re the one who makes me feel safe…’  
  
“It’s good because it means your nerves are still functioning. You’ll keep a scar from this but otherwise your hands mobility and sensory functions will fully recover.”  
He grabbed a small pot of balm from the tray beside him and applied it onto the burned skin. The thick oily mass felt cool and soothing on her reddened flesh.  
There were a few other items on the tray- all things he had brought with him when he came back to the morgue after he had dragged the coroner off to the hospitals medicine and resource storage.  
Some things among them hadn’t been used yet and Helen blinked fearfully at the sharp scalpel and the syringe between the bandages and the towels he had just used to dry off her hand.

“Still…I didn’t ask you to go back inside to get that book.”  
A frown appeared on Ruvik’s face. He grabbed the bandages and started to carefully cover the female detectives hand and wrist in white strings of gauze. Not too tight, not too loose.  
He knew exactly how it had to be done. After so many years of treating to his own wounds it was no wonder that it still came naturally. When had the day been where he realized that the pain was bearable even without the wrappings? He had stopped wearing them at one point.  
He had stopped caring- and that old man, Jimenez, hadn’t even lost a word about it.  
‘He didn’t care either…as long as I was useful to him…’

“How long until it’s all healed up? What do you think?”  
“Hm?” He looked into the brown eyes before him. They looked back at him with the question still lingering in their gaze.  
He thought for a second. “It depends…” Ruvik added another layer of gauze. The act of applying a bandage felt so familiar, and yet so strange. This small hand wasn’t his.  
He fastened the end of the bandage at her wrist and his fingertips brushed against the fabric that covered her palm.  
  
This was the hand that had held his.  
  
He had stopped caring about himself back then but…

Knowing that this hand was now also marked by the fire…  
Knowing that now he wouldn’t be able to feel its touch…

…seemed unbearable.  
  
“It depends…the healing process is different for each person. I can’t tell you how long exactly you’ll be unable to use it.”

Unforgivable.  
  
“Well good thing I still have my other hand~”  
Helen gave him a weak smile. “You look like this is the end of the world. You already said I’ll be fine, remember?”  
“I said that, but you also could have died in there.” he replied sourly. “Going back wasn’t just naive. It was foolish.” She opened her mouth to protest but he interrupted her. “And it wasn’t heroic at all as many times as you try to convince me of it…stand up.” He let go of her hand and stood at her side, waiting for the redhead to get off the examination table.  
  
“I still think I was pretty badass…” She hopped from the table and promptly gasped from the pain that shot through her leg. ‘Oh, right…I almost forgot about THAT.’

The cut on her leg had stopped hurting while she sat down but the sudden movement provided for a sharp reminder of its existence. “Oh holy shi--!” Helen winced and grabbed for the table in her back.  Being a badass had its benefits- this wasn’t one of them.

The young man tugged at the jagged edge of her ripped pants. He pressed against the swollen skin above and under the cut in her thigh- the pain was still there and surged up with every touch of his fingers.  
Helen grimaced and held off on yelling out loud at the albino. ‘YES! THIS IS MY LEG YOU’RE HURTING THERE! IT’S INJURED! WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THAT?!’  
“I need to cut it off…” he mumbled and her jaw dropped.  
  
“MY LEG?! Are you serious!?”  
Helen panicked out of his grip and hobbled half a meter away from the still kneeling albino in an attempt to bring some safety distance between the two.  
“It’s just a cut, no?” She bent forward to get a better look at the wound on her leg. “Why would you…”  
  
“Your pants. I need to cut off the leg so I can get a better view on your wound.” He replied monotonously.  
  
“Oh…”  
‘Of course he meant the pants…stupid Helen…you’re panicking for no reason.’  
She sighed. This was all too much. Monsters, corpses, fire….ghosts. And now she was in a hospital, getting patched up in a morgue of all places.  
‘No…it’s not so much the morgue…’  
  
  
Images of white rooms and heavy wooden doors surfaced somewhere in the depths of her mind.  


_Her father, calling for her.  
The dark doctor with the suitcase, waving at her from the end of the long corridor in their big house. Then, the locks on the suitcase snapping open.  
 The lid lifting, exposing—_  
  
  
Helen inhaled deeply and brushed the memories away.  
‘It’s just a hospital…no big deal. Focus, Helen, focus!’  
She started fumbling with her belt, which proved to be quite difficult, using only one hand. In no way would she allow Leslie to cut off that leg and have her running around like a fashion idiot for the rest of the day.  
‘I am not in the mood for setting new trends…and I doubt the world is ready for Helen Saul’s infamous ‘one-legged-pants’ yet…’  
  
“What are you doing?” The albino watched her helpless efforts of undoing the belt buckle.  
He asked although he could clearly see what the intention behind her fiddling was. Undressing.  
The scalpel he’d already grabbed from the nearby tray was put down again.    
“Trying to take them off if you haven’t noticed…it’s just not that easy with my new handicap.”  
She waved at him with her bandaged hand while she shot death glares at the obstinate belt as if doing that could help convincing the accessory to let loose.  
  
Her fingers stopped dead in their movements when they were joined by another set of pale digits. Leslie’s warm fingers undid the belt in less than a second before they grabbed at the hem of her jeans and pulled her closer.  
The redhead gasped at the sudden, forceful haul. For a short moment she felt a rush of tension shoot up her spine. The warmth of the albino’s fingers lingered on the skin of her abdomen just long enough to make her blush. Then it was gone again. Helen hadn’t even realized that he had undone the button of her pants already.  
“There. I take it you’re able to do the rest alone.”  
He had turned around to look at the items on the tray again, waiting for her to move.  
“Uh…uh…yeah, I guess.”  
She pulled down her pants as far as needed and covered her undies with her jacket.  
‘At least today is not a black lace day…’ she thought.

 

 

  
“Detective…I wasn’t going to talk about this yet but…” The coroner waddled a little closer to Sebastian. “I have been the one who examined the corpses of the case…two years ago.”  
Castellanos looked at him and closed the organizer.  
“Two years ago?”  
“Yes, yes, indeed! Two years ago…”He made a nodding motion in the direction of the other two people in the room. “The whole case was kept from the media as best as possible but…of course everyone who worked on it still knew **something** happened.”  
Seb turned his gaze to the redhead, who firmly clutched onto her jacket while Ruvik inspected and cleaned the wound on her leg.

“You’re talking about Helen…” his voice now low in order to keep it between the two men; he turned back to the small doctor at his side.  
  
“…and about the reason I think you should reconsider having her on your team. I didn’t remember her last time- but a few days ago...well…”  
  
“The official version states she went on hiatus to recover from whatever happened back then.”  
’There isn’t much information on what really went down and I was too engaged in my own investigations to keep on track with any other cases at that time.’  
  
“That’s the official version…”  
  
“If you know something, spit it out. I am not patient enough to listen to you beating around the bush today.”  
The coroners face turned a bright red now. He was obviously convinced that his information was highly important.  
  
“Well” he said in a hissed whisper “all I am saying is- the way these people died was in no way an accident.”  
This sparked the detective’s interest. “What else then?” There had been seven deaths in the case that happened prior to the female detective’s two-year-break from the job. Information about what happened back then was scarce and cause for more than enough rumors to justify her choice to stay absent for so long.  
  
“Well, the only ones who would know for sure won’t be able to tell us anymore…”  
Kugel moved even closer to the brown haired detective now, only centimeters separating them from being effectively cheek-on-cheek with each other.  
“…but everything I saw when I performed the autopsy on those poor souls- spoke for an…execution!”  
  
‘An execution?’ Sebastian took another look at the redhead. She grimaced and then pouted when the albino said something to her about holding still.  
Could this woman really do something like that? ‘She had been the only one who came out alive that day, yes, but…she can’t even look at a corpse without almost throwing up…’ he thought.

“Are you sure?” He exchanged a serious look with the coroner.  
  
“Cross my heart! I haven’t been wrong once in over twenty years of practice! I swear!” The little man put a hand on his heart and even saluted to the detective to emphasize his statement.  
  
Castellanos thought for a second. If what the ball-shaped doctor said was true, he had to find out more about the female detective’s past. There had been a case-so there had to be a file for it in the police archives.  
The young woman hadn’t shown any signs that spoke against her yet.  
  
‘But still waters run deep they say…’ he nodded at the smaller man before he called out to the others.  
“Hey, you two~ “  He started walking towards the examination table. “Are you done yet?”  
  
“I am almost done sewing her up. I could have cut the edges clean to avoid scarring but she refused.”  
Ruvik pulled on the string that now formed an even pattern of small stitches on her thigh. The needle went through her skin a few times more until he cut off the end of the medical thread.  
  
“I can deal with a scar- makes a great conversation starter, right?” She gave the man a crooked smile and then gasped when he simply put iodine ointment on the closed wound. The burning sensation subsided after a few seconds and she clumsily pulled up her pants after he had applied a somewhat oversized band aid onto it.  
‘And I can deal with that sewing needle….but I hate, hate, HATE syringes…’  
The redhead avoided looking at the syringe that lay between the other things on the tray.  
He had insisted on giving her a local anesthesia before working on the wound with a scalpel.  
‘No thank you…I’ll take the conversation starter over that anytime…’

“In any case you shouldn’t put too much weight on your leg for a while. Keep the bandages dry and clean. I will take a look at the healing process from time to time…”  
  
“What about taking a bath?”  
  
“No baths- except you learn how to renew your bandages yourself.”  
  
“Showers?”  
  
“No.”  
  
‘Great. Only me and the washcloth from now until open end, huh?’ Helen sighed.  
“Okay, we’re ready." She nodded at her older partner.  
“Good. I still need to make copies of this” he waved with the book she had rescued from the fire, “and we’ll have to discuss what happened today. Possibly also check back with Doyle- it’s likely he has some more info on Sanchez’ last moments than he wants to let us know.”  
  
“Alright! Then off we go! To the bat mobile!”  
  
_“Not you.”_  
“Not you.”  
  
The answer came from both of her partners simultaneously. Their eyes met for a second while Helen’s optimistic expression turned into a pout. “Why not?”  
  
Castellanos answered her. “You’re going home. I want you to rest and take a day off- two if you need it. Ru… _Leslie_ and I will keep you updated on any important information we’ll get. You’re allowed back to work once you can walk normally again. Until then I don’t want to see you anywhere near the police department, understood?” He fixated her until she couldn’t withstand his stare and nodded reluctantly.  
“Understood…”  
‘I think I know why people keep saying there are no more heroes…if this is how you are thanked for saving the day then it’s really not worth the hassle…’  
Helen made a mental note not to whip out her wonder woman day-saving-skills again so soon when she suddenly felt a hand pat on her shoulder.  
She looked up and was met with one of the detective’s rare smiles. “You did well today, Saul. Thanks to you we might have something new to work with, finally. I’ll drop you off at your place. Rest for a while- you’ve earned it.”  
  
‘Oh well- maybe it’s not as bad as I thought. Yeah…I earned it…that’s one way to think of it.’  
She peeked at the organizer in his hand. As curious as she was about the contents of this thing…she was also hellishly tired. Sebastian had promised they’d keep her updated. Both of them. Her eyes wandered to her other partner. The young man had turned his back on them and was picking something up from the tray.  
When he turned around he held a small white pill bottle in his hand.  
“They’re strong.” He handed it to her. “Take one with water and then sleep. One. Not more.”  
  
“Okay.” ‘Ugh, pills…’  
Would her injuries start hurting more than they did now?  
  
One more thing she didn’t want to think about…  
The small bottle disappeared into her pocket and they left the morgue together.

Dr. Kugel watched them leave and sighed. “No…this isn’t good at all…it’s bad. Really bad!”

  
  
***************************************************************************  
  
  


  
“I don’t like whatever you are trying to start with Saul.”  
  
“I noticed.”  
  
The two men were back at the office. There had been an almost audible silence in the car after Sebastian had dropped off the female detective at the hotel she still resided at. He had shaken his head when he watched her enter the building. Hadn’t she talked about getting an apartment?  
Maybe giving her some time off the case was just what she needed to sort out herself while recovering.  
And then there was still Dr Kugel and his vague mention of her being part of something much more sinister than he’d expected from the redhead…  
The police archives. He would take the chance and search for the case file to find out what really happened two years ago. She couldn’t be a cold blooded killer like the one sitting at the desk next to his, could she? His thoughts went back to what he had wanted to say to the murderer.

“This time she got away with a burned hand and a cut. I won’t just watch this happen and have her **dead** the next time because she was naïve enough to let you manipulate her.”  
He turned another page of the copied text and shot the former neuro-scientist a serious glare.  
  
Ruvik scribbled down a quick note on the side of his copy of the text before he answered. He took his time because the detective was annoying him. His assumption was ridiculous. “I am not doing anything. She went back on her own accord.”  
It was the truth. He had watched her, unable to move or to say anything. Seeing her frame disappear into the flaming inferno had filled him with... fright.  
  
Had it been the fire?  
Or the fear of losing someone to it…yet again.

 

“Whatever. Keep your distance from her. You didn’t want her on the team from the start so I don’t see a reason for you two to become friends all of a sudden.” Sebastian leaned back in his chair and noticed the faint afterglow of the sun setting on the horizon. The days seemed shorter than usual for this time of the year. He wouldn’t allow for Helen to fall victim to Victoriano’s scheming. No matter what she had done- nothing could be as unforgiveable as the dark deeds of this heartless man.  
The redhead was under his lead. He was responsible for her well-being.  
  
She didn’t know who really lurked behind the innocent features so it was up to him to make sure the white eyed man didn’t lure her into one of his traps to get to his goals.  
  
‘White eyed…’ Sebastian shot back up from his relaxed position. The white eyes! He had almost forgotten about his strange encounter thanks to Helen’s daring escapade in that house.

“How does a person get white eyes?” His question came out of the blue and even caught the albino’s attention who, up until this point, had done a good job ignoring his partner for the most part.  
“A rare mutation in genetics. A dictate of nature. Call it what you will…”  Ruvik was slightly irritated by the detectives random inquiry. He was trying to concentrate on the task at hand- which already proved hard enough when his thoughts kept traveling back to the absent female of the team.  
He tried shaking it off while deciphering the chicken scratch of the deceased drug dealer.  
‘So cold…’ He thought. He remembered the feeling of her skin under his fingertips when he had pulled her closer by the hem of her jeans.  
His fingers had brushed over her abdomen. Smooth and cool. If he could go back in time…  
Run his thumbs over her hipbones…  
Let his hand wander up and pull her even closer. Hold her...just a little longer, a little tighter.  
Let her know...  
He abruptly stood up and the chair behind him got shoved against the wall with a screeching noise.  
  
“What is it? Got a problem?”  
  
A problem?

Yes.

He had a problem.

He had given into the temptation when she’d held him in that fire.  
He had sunken into her embrace willingly.  
Felt her heartbeat.  
Her life.  
  
And now he realized he was starting to crave…more.

“I…” he began, but something caught his eye and he broke off in mid-sentence.  
  
  
  
The apple from this morning was still lying on his table.  
  
_“_ _One hundred percent free of poison or drugs. Guaranteed.”_

He stood at his desk. Eyes stuck on the gift he had received.  
Temptation, drug, poison.

‘Liar.’

“I am leaving. I need to be alone.” He started collecting the pages of the copied notes on his desk and got ready to leave. “I’ll have these done tomorrow.” Ruvik hesitated when he had everything packed up. Once more his gaze wandered back to the apple.

It was just an apple.  
Just an innocent fruit on a desk in an office.

And at the same time, symbol for so much more.

The inner struggle lasted for only a second. Then he reached out and closed his fingers around the fresh fruit.  
  
Its skin was smooth and cool. The round form perfectly nestling into his palm.  
He noticed this and he made a decision.

There were no good-byes said when he left the room and went on his way to leave the building.  
Surprisingly. He had expected the detective to hold him back and demand a reason for his sudden leave but nothing of the sort happened.

He held the apple in his hand while he walked and felt it slowly warming up to match his body temperature.  
  
  
He wouldn’t keep his distance from the female detective.  
  
  
  
  
She had come back to him in that fire.  
And now he wouldn’t let her leave him again.

*********************************************************************************

  
  
  
“Never….again.”

Helen drowsily stumbled to the large double bed in her hotel room and carefully climbed on the mattress. The pain in her limbs had started to increase exponentially while she’d gone through her first session of washcloth-bathing herself in front of the bathroom mirror.  
Her hair was still wet and the whole bathroom looked like someone had set it underwater but at least the redhead was squeaky clean now…and dead tired.

Her healthy hand blindly reached for the small pill bottle on the nightstand.  
A glass of water stood right beside it and a few bubbles rose from its bottom to its surface when her hand brushed against it. They plopped open and released the air that had been trapped inside them.  
‘I really hope these help…’ Her previous plan on not taking the medicine at all had slowly crumbled and lastly fallen completely when she had almost slipped on the wet floor and bumped into the door with her injured leg.  
  
“To hell with it...I’ll take them all if they don’t make the pain go away…” She popped the lid of the bottle open and peered inside. A few pills rolled around on the bottom of the small container.  
And a neatly folded slip of paper also stuck inside of the bottle.  
“Huh…what’s that?”  
The redhead scooted up on her elbows and fished out the note with two fingers.  
Her lips formed a small smile when she read the first sentence written on it.  
  
_Only one- not more._  
  
“Alright, alright…geez…now he’s turned into a fortune teller and mind reader too…one pill, I got it.”  
She took one pill out of the bottle and gulped it down with a generous amount of water.  
Then she read the rest of the small message.  
  
_Changing bandages tomorrow.  
Call or message with a set time to meet up._  
  
A phone number was scribbled underneath the last sentence. So they would meet up tomorrow to change her bandages already?  
‘I bet he thinks I already messed them up by now…’  
Helen peeked at the gauze that was wrapped around her burnt hand. It looked a bit tattered indeed…but not too bad considering the fact that she had poured water over it and touched it more times than she could count in the last hour or so. Ok…it was pretty much ruined.  
‘Well it’s one thing to look forward to tomorrow. At least I’ll get out and won’t die from boredom in here that way.’  
She placed the note on the nightstand with the pill bottle and the glass of water and turned off the lights.

Now all she had to do was to wait for the pill to take effect and ease the pain.  
Her bandaged hand wandered over her stomach and onto her thigh, where her fingers slowly traced the edges of the bandage covering the cut.  
  
The way it was sewn up now it would leave a nasty scar on her body…  
Helen sighed. She had said she didn’t mind…but was that really true?

“Scars…”  
The image of a heavily scarred ghostly figure appeared before her inner eyes.  
‘So many scars on his body…’ She nuzzled her face into the soft pillow beside her head. Recalling the meetings with her unknown savior, she pulled the cushion closer and held onto it.  
The redhead still didn’t know what to make of the man in the robe. Was he real?  
A ghost?  
A guardian angel?  
A figment of her imagination.

‘If the last one is true…then it’s no wonder that I feel like this now…’  
Her mind clung to his image.  
His hypnotizing gaze, the aristocratic features, and the slender yet somehow toned looking body of his.  
All together adding to the overwhelming aura of his presence.  
  
Yes, handsome Doyle had made her blush and she’d felt excited when she got the flowers and the card…  
  
But this man, who had saved her twice now….

‘I…’ Her hand slowly wandered up to her stomach again. Forgotten was the pain- because a new sensation was spreading inside her. It ran up and down her spine and lingered on her neck like a kiss for a while before it filled her stomach with a warm, fuzzy feeling. When Helen closed her eyes she could almost hear the myriad of wings quietly flapping.  
  
It didn’t make sense at all. And still.

‘I want to see him again…’  
  
The female detective snuggled under her blankets and drifted into a medicine induced slumber.  
  
  
********************************************************************  
  
Bright neon lights illuminated the chalk white walls of the underground laboratory. The faint beeping noise of computers and other machines was heard in the room.  
A single person was inside, sitting on a desk and taking notes while continuously checking the output on the large computer screen in front of them.  
  
“Excellent. It’s almost perfect now.” The hushed whisper was that of a female voice. The woman in the lab coat adjusted her glasses and checked the data on her script once more before she shut off the monitor. “At this rate we should be able to show them the fruits of our hard labor …MY hard labor…very soon.” She grinned and stood up from the desk. The scientist stretched her body and stifled a yawn. She brushed a hand through her short blonde hair and walked over to a set of screens on the wall on the opposite side of the room.  
  
Various rooms were seen on the screens that were connected to security cameras inside the facility.  
One in particular had her utmost attention.  
The blonde woman placed her hand on the flickering TV and spoke louder this time.  
  
“I can’t wait…how about you…?”


	14. TEW Fanfic - Chapter 13: Hurt and Heal

“I can't wait...how about you...?” Oh, he would be proud if he knew...  
  
A series of beeping noises coming from the electric door of the lab made the woman turn away from the monitors and watch the entrance of the room. With a slight draft coming from the opening, the door slid to the side and gave way for two men.  
  
The one on the left, the taller of the two, wore an elegant yet simple, black suit. His black hair and dark eyes only emphasized the stark contrast his appearance stood in with the sterile white lab environment. He focused on the woman in the room for just a second before returning to his conversation partner.   
“We are pleased to see you are still working on the synching process but without any progress towards it's completion you may want to reconsider your approach on the matter, doctor. MOBIUS' resources should be better invested than in something with little to no expectations for success. How many of your test subjects survived the ingestion of the experimental substance up until now?”  
  
“N-none, that is, indeed, not speaking for success, as you would put it, Administrator.”  
  
The gaunt doctor in his once white, now slightly greyish lab coat answered with discomfort. He nervously shifted his gaze from the tall man at his side to the many instruments in the lab and back, having problems keeping eye contact with his superior. “We are still working on the formula, though! The brain is by far the most complex and sensitive part of the human body...weighing out dosage and components for our synch-amplifier should be of utmost priority and care! The outcome and finally the use you will get out of it for your further work with STEM should be well worth the effort and...investment, both financially and time-wise.”  
  
“If you are so convinced of your project I am willing to give you some more time to work out some of the obvious flaws. Keep in mind that we are depending on your work but we also have no time to waste. There are plenty of other promising concepts that only wait to be tested out should you fail to deliver.” The Administrator slowly walked through the laboratory, brushing his hands over different devices and reading some of the data on open files.   
With a swift motion the blonde woman was back at her desk and quickly shoved her latest notes under a stack of other files while pretending to be organizing papers. No one had acknowledged her presence yet.

“Yes, of course...!” The doctor was one step behind him, fidgeting his hands and quite obviously searching for a way to take his supervisor's mind off of the subject. “de Vos!” He turned to the blonde, who was still standing at her desk.   
  
“Yes, doctor?”   
  
“Why don't you give the Administrator a report on our successes concerning the reconstruction of 001a's nervous system?” He eagerly nodded at her and the tall man while saying this. “I am sure he'll be pleased to see how far we've come already!”   
  
Without hesitation, de Vos grabbed for a thin manuscript on her desk and flipped the first page over. She started reporting while staring blankly at the numbers on the paper every so often. It was useless for her, as she already knew the data by heart.   
“Recent tests have shown that the initial damage on the peripheral nervous system has gone down from seventy-eight percent to twenty-three percent through the experimental therapy. While the surface damage is still evident and clearly visible we have concentrated on the practical aspects of reconstruction. The organizations use of the subject will be of such nature too, so... It should be ready to remove any unwanted 'echo' fro--”  
  
“While we're at it-” the Administrator cut her off, “I have gotten message from our external workers. Keeping watch over our laid off subject had been a mere precaution but lately the brain activities we have measured have superseded the levels we've known until now. Maybe we had given up on that one too early.” He fixated the doctor and pointed at the screens across the room. “Maybe you won't need this anymore once we've gotten our hands back on that one...”  
  


  
*********************************************************************

  
  


Helen inhaled deeply before she crossed the street that led to the entrance of the police department. The manhole right before the building was still open and a handful of workers were busy climbing into the gaping hole, taking measure on the sidewalk and letting a hose twice as thick as her arm down into the sewer for reasons she couldn't quite figure out.  
‘They’re wearing masks. No wonder with that awful smell that’s coming from that hole.’ The redhead was holding her breath while she climbed the steps to the KYPD's doors. She’d already caught a whiff of the unbelievable stench when the wind suddenly changed direction earlier.   
‘Ugh…I wonder what they’re doing down there…’  
  
“Huh- HEY Wha—“  
  
“We’re not staying here. I don’t want people talking.”   
As soon as she’d opened the large double doors, Helen was pushed back outside. She nearly lost her balance but the albino’s hands put a firm grip on her shoulder to keep her from falling.   
Leslie seemed to have already been waiting for her.  
“So then, where are we going?” She asked, staggering down the steps beside him and grimacing because her plan not to take another mouthful of the sweet, sweet sewer air had just been crushed by his unforeseen surprise attack on her. ‘People talking? Okaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay...’  
  
“Just follow me.” He walked in front of her, looking right and left from time to time as if looking for something.   
“You know, you could have said 'Hi Helen! What a nice day, so good to see you here!' or something.” ‘Or you could walk a little slower for starters…my leg hurts like hell…’  
Helen tried hard to keep up with her white haired partner. The cut on her thigh had started to hurt again immediately after she’d gotten out of bed this morning. The night, however, had been free of pain. Not only that, but it had been more than pleasant, to say the least.  
‘If the pills are responsible for that dream than I am already looking forward to taking them again…’ she thought while she reminisced the vague memories of a tight, warm embrace and soft kisses shared with a certain silent, scarred stranger.  
The redhead couldn’t help but feel bad about the dream….and even worse for wanting…more.  
  
Helen lowered her head and watched her feet take step after step on the sidewalk. She was just getting a little dizzy from remembering the feeling of a rough thumb on her cheek and cracked lips gently pressing down on hers. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever felt so warm and so... safe.'  
Closing her eyes for a second she felt herself wishing for the man in the robe to be just as real as the pain in her leg. The ache flared up with each time her foot hit the cold concrete ground.  
One step.  
'I wish he was real.'  
Two steps.  
'I want him to be real.'  
Three steps.  
'God, please let him be re--'

 

__**BUMP**  
  
The female detective's eyes snapped open to see an arm holding her back from walking any further. Then she looked at the person the arm belonged to. Leslie inspected her with a stern look on his face. “Watch where you’re going.”   
  
“Huh?”  
  
“You’ll get yourself run over. Are you dreaming in broad daylight?” He nodded at the traffic lights that had just tuned red and Helen realized that he’d just kept her from blindly crossing the street. “Oh…I am sorry, I was...nevermind.” ‘I was being lovesick like the women in movies and books always are. How cliche…’ she thought with a hint of embarrassment. 'To think that could ever happen to me...read it, yes- live it- oh, that's a completely different story, my friend.'  
  
“Well then...” He started and then paused. Helen looked at him expectantly. What now? A lecture? Advice? The albino sure had a thing for making her feel like an idiot. Although…lately, he seemed to have changed his behavior towards her. ‘A tiny little bit at least…’  
For a minute or two no more words came from the young man and they waited in silence for the sign to switch color.  
Cars drove by and the few people around them talked on phones or to each other while the two investigators just stared at the red light on the other side of the street.   
“So… how do you feel today?”  
His question caught her off guard. 'That took you quite a while to get out, huh?' She peeked at him from the corner of her eye. Leslie was still staring straight forward. Nothing in his facial expression or body language even hinted on the fact that he'd just asked her a question. Or had he asked her at all? 'Everything’s possible. I mean...I am still unsure if I've been hallucinating these days or if everything I saw was real.' The redhead turned her eyes onto her bandaged hand. The wrappings looked even more tattered today than last night before she'd went to sleep. They were coming off in a few spots- leaving the fiery red, burned skin underneath bare. Yes, the reason they were on their way to wherever….to change these and check upon her wounds. Did he care or did he not?  
He tended to her wounds yesterday- he cared.  
He gave her pills but restricted her use of them although he probably knew they’d give her the best dreams she’d ever had in her whole life- he… somehow cared?  
He gave her his number to check up on her bandages- he obviously cared.  
Then he almost pushed her down the stairs today and walked speedy as heck to have her limp after him- Idiot didn’t care one bit.  
‘Guy, you’re giving me a hard time figuring you out! And I bet you knew about the pills…’  
Helen pouted. When the traffic lights turned green again she started hobbling across the street as fast as she could, trying to ignore him. A senseless effort since the albino was much faster than her on his healthy legs.   
‘I should have stayed in bed today. I should have just rolled over and closed my eyes again…my leg...’  
“I woke up with a spring in my step and a song in my heart!” she yelled. “Where are we even going!?” A few passing people stared at her sudden outburst.

  
Ruvik watched the redheaded detective limp a few steps ahead before he followed her.  
The leg had to hurt her more than she was showing.  
Pain bred frustration. And anger. With enough pain, frustration and anger pent up inside it was only a matter of time until she'd snap at someone. He knew this all too well and so he ignored the aggressive tone in her voice. She wasn't used to being in a lot of pain, he figured. And if he took good enough care of her injuries she wouldn't have to get used to it either.

“We're already there.” he simply answered calmly.   
  


“Huh.” She looked left and right before looking at him confusedly. “There's nothing here...”   
The redhead and the albino stood in front of the huge iron gate that led into Krimson City’s park. The gravel path that started behind the gates was still moist and darkened from the rainy days that had kept lining up one after another over the week. A faint white layer of fog hung in the trees and the green areas surrounding the small lake that lay just out of sight and in the center of the park.   
  
The bad weather made the public place far less desirable to spend time in and so there were only a handful of people scattered over the winding paths between the lush vegetation inside.  
  
“Don't tell me you are planning on patching me up in there.” Helen’s face fell when she thought about the damp wooden benches in the park and the...well....public...ness of it all.  
  
“I could do as you wish...but that would be lying to your face.” He walked past her and entered the park only to turn around and wait for her to follow. Reluctantly, she did.  
  
  
****************************************************************************  
  
  
Sebastian took a last pull on his cigarette and then pushed the little stump into the already overflowing ashtray on his desk. Looking through the archive had brought up only one folder related to his partner. Kugel was right. Something was definitely going wrong when the archive was missing all information regarding the case Helen had been part of two years ago.   
The file before him was thin. Only a few pieces of paper, a photo and a tiny newspaper clipping that dated roughly two years back.   
  
A younger version of Helen Saul looked up to him from the small photograph. The serious expression on her face bespoke the friendly nature he had witnessed from the redheaded detective.  
  
Detective Saul's file was flawless. The reports on her person praised her work in the police force as well as her apprehension skills and her help in successfully closing more than one of the harder cases she'd worked on under his wife’s supervision.  
  
'But that doesn't fit in with her time-out...'  
  
He turned another page of praise and references and tried to remember what Myra had once told him about the female detective.   
A hard worker, loyal, promising. What else had she told him back then?  
  
His eyes fell on the newspaper clipping and the headline that read:   
  
**SHOOTING IN KRIMSON CITY – 9 dead** **1 injured** **last** **Night**

Obviously, the article had to do with Helen, although her name was nowhere to be found in it.  
  
  
  
 _Krimson City is still shocked from the events of last night. For yet unrevealed reasons, a fight in a bar escalated into a devastating shooting and the tragic deaths of three civilians as well as two officers on duty._

__  
  
Names of a few people and condolences for the families of the deceased followed. The usual. No words of Helen or what had started the argument. Sebastian shook his head. A shooting was, sadly, something he'd come across more than once in his career by now. More often than not the situation did not escalate and was solved in less than five minutes after police arrived and talked some sense into the drunken bigmouths.

This one, though, seemed to have gone all kinds of wrong.   
  
'Myra....what did you say when you talked about her...she's exceptionally good at her job...'  
  
  
BUT

 

'But what....?'  
  
  
***************************************************************************

 

They had walked a short distance before Leslie decided that Helen could to sit down on one of the benches close to the lake.   
  
'I didn't see a single person since we came here...maybe this will work out after all. Unless I get an infection from this dirty bench.' She thought.  
  
“Hand or leg?” she then asked.   
  
“You're not wasting any time...” The albino had been staring at the water ripples fallen leaves created on the surface of the lake. Small, circular waves that broke the clouded skies mirror image. Pictures flashed before his inner eye.   
A fountain at night. The stars in the sky and the ethereal light from below illuminating the female detectives elegant form in the nightly garden. A sadness in her eyes....

He sat down beside her and pulled a small first aid kit out of his jacket. “Give me your hand.”   
  
Her cold fingers touched his warm ones. Ruvik sighed.   
“Yeah, yeah, I know...I ruined them.” Helen hunched forward in her sitting position and propped her chin on her hand, resting her elbow on her knee. “You know...I tried really hard not too....believe it or not~.”   
He inspected the bandages. They were ruined indeed.   
“I said no showers.”  
  
“I didn't.”  
  
“And no baths.”  
  
“I swear~!”   
  
He smiled a little while he slowly started undoing the wrappings on her hand. Ruvik had expected her to somehow ruin the bandages. That's why he had given her the note. And maybe he had even hoped she'd ruin them.   
Meeting her here gave him the chance to get to know more about her without having to deal with the interruptions of the older detective. Sebastian was in the office and brooding over some files right now. It was best to avoid him, he decided.

The more gauze he removed from the females arm the more red came into view.   
'It's not shedding...good.'   
“I will put some burn ointment on your hand and wrist. It will hurt but it will also help.”  
  
“Okay...” She eyed him carefully while he opened the small pot with the lotion. Her hand was slightly shaking. Helen felt the burning sensation when he gently and carefully applied the ointment on her skin. “So, wow, uh...hah...” She tried to distract herself from the pain, searching for something to focus her mind on other than her hand. “Yesterday was not all that great, huh? With all that fire and the dead guy and such....”  
  
“You could say that.” Again, he opened the kit and this time grabbed a new roll of gauze from it.  
  
“I...” the redhead thought for a second. Should she mention it? 'If not now, then never, right?'  
“You know...I was pretty scared when you wouldn't stand up in that room.”  
  
“Hm.” He frowned while he continued to wrap her hand in bright new bandages. He didn't want to talk about the fire.  
  
“You kept saying 'I am sorry' over and over again...this was not the first time you were in a fire, wasn't it?”  
  
“It wasn't.” Was she the one asking him questions when he'd been planning to do exactly that to her?  
“And it wasn't the first time you blindly ran head first into obvious danger. I shouldn't have to tell you how reckless your actions have been since you joined the investigation.” He fastened thee bandage with a small clip and looked into her eyes. “You could have gotten yourself burned to death. Do you have any idea how much pain and suffering that means?”   
  
“I...I am sorry.” She looked down. 'Gee, that guy can give you some serious lecture....but it's pretty obvious that his experience with fire must have been horrible to say the least...'  
  
“Now let me fix up your leg so we can get this done quick.” For some reason her mentioning the fire had killed his desire to spend more time in the park..or give her more opportunities to bring up the topic again.  
  
“Alright.” She shifted closer to the edge of the bench and pulled up the knee length skirt she wore.  
“I knew buying this would come in handy one day....especially after I spent 15 minutes this morning trying to put on a pair of jeans and almost ended up convulsing on the floor from the pain I inflicted on myself.”  
  
“The bandage looks good but I'll have to remove it either way to see if your cut got infected.”   
  
“Go ahead, take as much time as you need- I have a day off and nothing better to do...” Helen braced herself for the sure to be expected pain when she remembered the bottle of pills he had given her the day before. “Leslie...”  
  
“What is it?”   
  
“The pills you gave me...are they only for the night?”  
  
They were. A strong painkiller and slight sedative with the side effect of boosting the patients mood. Normally the usage was advised to be restricted to one pill a day and the person taking it was asked to stay at home in bed while under its influence.

“You want to take one.”  
  
“Well...My leg hurts like hell and...”  
  
“Go ahead.” If he allowed her to take one....  
Ruvik inspected the cut underneath the bandages. He would have preferred to have cut the edges clean the day before but despite the roughness it looked to be healing well.   
He watched the female detective take a pill and lean back on the bench before he bandaged her leg again.   
  
“You're a fast healer.”  
  
“I know. I am blessed with a guardian angel.” A slight blush appeared on the woman’s face and he assumed it was just the pill slowly taking effect on her already.  
“As a kid I was always sick though...no wonder they thought I was gonna die.” She talked with her eyes closed and a slight smile on her lips. “That one day they actually thought I did...and they told my mother.”  
  
'It's working faster than I thought.' The albino looked at his redheaded partner and sat down beside her. He was done with the bandages and only listened. He'd allowed her to take the pill because he expected it would make her talk easily. What he hadn't expected was the fact that he wouldn't even have to ask her questions.

“You said your mother died in a mental hospital.”  
  
“Did I say that?” She rubbed her eyes and then stared at the cloud-veiled sky. “I guess I did.”  
  
Silence. An old man walked by and they watched his back as he slowly moved further away from them on his way.  
  
“I don't remember her much. I know she didn't like me. When I was better again and they told her I was still alive she refused to see me.”  
  
“What about the rest of your family?” Ruvik could tell she was getting mushy from the medicament. Her head had plopped onto his shoulder and she was breathing deeply between each sentence. If he didn't want her to fall asleep he'd have to keep her awake with more questions...or have her walk.  
  
“He hates me. He thinks it's my fault. I know he does...”  
She sniffed and sighed. Her head was laying on his shoulder heavily. Her deep breathing hitched slightly.  
'He?' Ruvik felt her weight shift against his side. She was close to sleeping if not already halfway in dreams. He had to get her onto her feet.  
Just as he was about to stand up he felt her cold fingers curl around his hand. The gauze brushed against his skin and reminded him of her injury when he automatically entwined his fingers with hers.   
She gasped from the pain and opened her eyes.   
  
“Helen, stand up. We're having a walk for a bit.” He ushered her to get off the bench, pulling her up by her bandaged hand, inwardly flinching just as much as she did. She looked weak and vulnerable. Her teary eyes and the blush on her cheeks....if he squeezed her hand more...if he grabbed her injured leg right now...he could hurt her...and then heal her. Convince her that she needed him.  
  
He hooked her arm under and dragged her with him. They had to walk. Fast. Find some water to splash it in her face. Let the wind wake her up from her drowsy state. Everything, anything to make her look less....tempting. And beautiful.

“Hey...wait! My leg, Leslie, I can't walk that fast!”  
  
*********************************************************************

Sebastian was wrecking his brain to remember the conversation he had had with his wife all that time ago.  
  
He couldn't have confused the female detective with someone else- Helen Saul was the name of the young detective that had worked under Myra before she had went missing.   
This was her file, her photo, her vitae.  
  
And yet something was wrong. Something was missing.  
He spread out everything in the folder over his desk and stared at the black ink on the paper.  
Exceptional work, skills, apprehension. A dedication to the cases she worked on that sought its equal.

  
_'She's really good at her job- the best one from the new graduates I'd say, very promising and already on her way to the next higher badge but...'_

 

BUT

_', there's nothing there. It's like she's living for the job alone. I've seen people with bad social skills but whenever I try to talk to her personally...'_  
  
'Shy?'   
  
'No, empty. A loyal, hardworking, dedicated **empty** detective.'  
  
'Shy. Give her some time and she'll open up.'  
  
'Maybe you're right...I hope you are.' 

  
Sebastian stood up and opened the window.  
Empty.

No, not Helen. At least not the Helen he had gotten to know since she had joined their team.  
What had happened to the female detective and why was she so different than from what Myra had told him?   
  
He looked over the file a last time before he stacked up the papers in their folder again.   
Someone must have paid a nice sum to get rid of the case file and shut the mouths of those who could tell about it.  
Something was missing.

Sebastian had questions. And he needed someone one who would answer them.   
  
*************************************************************

“Please.....stop....give me a break, fairy prince...we can't all fly.”  
She was clinging onto him for balance but she looked less flushed than before. “Leslie, what the..hell...” Helen was out of breath from what little bit of walking he had forced her to do.  
  
He didn't look at her. “You should go home.”   
  
“Home sweet home...if you have one.” She dreaded going back to her hotel room. A cage like every other. Just very pretty...and expensive.   
  
Some schoolgirls went by. They chatted excitedly and Helen looked at them with a tiny hint of envy. Had to be great to go to school and make friends and not be...

'...and not be lonely.' she thought.  
  
 _“I am telling you it's true!” One said to the other. “My friend went there with his cousin and they did see a real ghost!!”_  
  
“Yeah, right...as if!”  
  
“You better believe me! They called and asked if one was there and it appeared right in front of them! You can imagine how fast they bolted out of the house after that. Everyone knows it's haunted there.”  
  
They walked out of earshot and kept gesturing and ticking on their cellphones.  
The redhead absentmindedly looked at the floor while their words repeated inside her head.

Haunted. Ghost. Right in front of them.

“Let's walk a little more.” She suddenly said.   
  
“With that leg of yours?” The albino shook his head. “Do yourself a favor and go home to rest.”  
  
“No. I am fine, Leslie...let's walk just a little further up the hill.” This time she was the one pulling on his sleeve to drag him along.

 

One step.  
  


Two steps.  
  


Three steps.

 

Helen kept walking with determination. She knew what place the girls had been talking about and she would go there. Just to make sure.

 

“There's something I want to try.”


	15. Chapter 14: Would you like...

She was slower than usual. He knew that part of that was caused by the wound in her leg but even with the pain she could have been faster…if it hadn't been for the medicine that made her move in serpent lines, striding out to the left and the right every now and then.

Ruvik slowly followed her up the steep path that was said to lead to some old 'haunted' house. Most likely just an abandoned building that hadn't yet fallen victim to bulldozers and a thick layer of cement. For some reason the redhead insisted on visiting it. To _try something_....whatever that meant when someone under the influence of strong medicine said it. He watched her back while he recounted the little bits of information she had spilled out earlier.   
  
Sickness. A suicide in the family. Blame. A mother she hardly knew. A father that...  
  
“There....we are.” Helen had stopped walking and leaned against the weathered wooden gate that formed the entrance to the small front yard of the house. She was already exhausted and still somewhat sleepy. That strange feeling in her body and in her head was similar to that she had experienced a few days earlier. At the masquerade. Sweet wine had given her this feeling of being lightheaded and walking on cotton wool.  
It made her want to curl up in a ball and sleep right there on the spot.   
‘Mhh, yes, I just love sleeping in the mud- maybe next time I visit.’  
  
She shifted her weight and exhaled with a faint sigh when the dull pain in her leg flared up just enough to hurl her back into reality.   
  
**_If_** she was to curl up in a ball and sleep today....then only in the arms of...

“It looks like it's going to collapse any second. Why is the town leaving it like this…” Leslie's voice was close to her ear, but muffled. The medicine was playing with her senses- pain or not.   
  
“I guess there's no money to fix it...or remove it. You should see the ruins outside of town. A whole mansion burned down there at some point. A really big, beautiful one. Across a bridge and surrounded by woods.” Her fingers loosely played with the gate’s handle while she talked. Her eyes wearily wandered over the damaged windows. “They say the owner must have died in the flames but his body was never found.”   
  
“I see.”   
'I know the house you're talking about...and  the one supposedly killed in the fire that destroyed it.'  
Ruvik watched her fingers move over the handle, tugging at it a little before going back to running over the rusted metal grip again. “You went there?”  
  
“Once. Quite a while ago.” The female detective smiled leaned on the handle. “It's eerie and lonely. And quiet out there. There was a village not far from it too. Also deserted.”  
  
He kept silent as she talked. The mansion had been his home; the village his hunting grounds before **they** had begun to take care of delivering the needed supplies.  
  
“I think I spent a whole day there just walking through the empty streets and peeking through dusty windows.”  
  
Did he feel anything when remembering these places? Knowing she'd been there. Touched things he'd once touched. Walked the paths he had roamed at night. Seen the same things he had laid eyes upon so many times before...

She had invaded his territory and all he felt was remorse for not being there with her to show her all the things she might have missed seeing without him.

“Helen...”   
  
“I…I felt like a ghost. As if I had somehow gained absolute freedom but also absolute desolation.” She looked at him and their eyes met. Her expression was almost empty. Only the slightest, sweetest sadness was hiding in the depths of her dark eyes, giving her that vulnerable, tempting appearance yet again. “I don't even know why I am telling you this...” A small smile appeared on her face and then vanished again when she turned to focus on the small gate again.   
  
“No. Go on...” He felt his body tense up. He needed to hear more. The feelings she had described were all too well known to him.

Ruvik only vaguely registered how his hand went to rest on top of hers. The fingers that had just been fumbling at the handle lay still the moment they touched. “Why did you go there if you knew it was deserted?”  
  
'I needed some time alone.'   
  
He still remembered that night. No matter how hard he tried- her words and the way she had looked just wouldn't leave his mind. He cocked his head to the side to get a better look at her face.   
The moment he was almost close enough to get a glimpse of the look in her eyes the wooden gate they both leaned against gave in with the sound of rusty hinges grating in their brackets.

“It's open!” She stumbled forward, almost falling over for a second before regaining her balance. “I knew we'd get it open! Although...we could have just climbed over the fence as well. It's just not what I'd prefer with my leg like this, you know?”   
  
“Makes sense...” Ruvik still stood in the open gate. That sudden change in her tone...he didn't like it. At all.

Calmness and solemn had been quickly replaced by cheerfulness. The mask had been put back on.   
‘For how long?’ ,he wondered.

He started to slowly follow the redhead who was already halfway disappearing into the darkness of the ruined house. The signs of decay on the outside were more than obvious. The inside had to look no better.   
Her footsteps where shortly ahead when he entered the small entrance corridor.   
  
'What are you looking for, Helen?' It had to be something else than just a cheap thrill. He closed his eyes and tried to sense his partner’s presence. 'I could show you…fear...' After dedicating his life to it for so many years…it was all he had to offer, wasn’t it? He took a few steps forward with his eyes closed. His hand brushed over the textured wallpaper. The floral pattern was interrupted by bigger and smaller patches of rough nothingness where the decoration was ripped or simply come off the walls after years of neglect and abuse by Krimson City’s adventurous and rebellious youth.   
When his hand touched the wooden frame of a doorway, he stopped and opened his eyes.  
  
She stood motionless in front of an old piece of furniture. The Queen Anne style sofa was partly covered with a white sheet, a last vain effort to keep the upholstery from any harm.   
The tan green crushed velvet was sliced open in more than one spot and revealed a thick, moldy filling.   
“Now, this is just sad…” She walked over to the other end of the room and his eyes followed her.   
  
“Old, unwanted trash is really nothing to be sad about.”   
  
Helen frowned at Leslie’s words. Old and unwanted trash. “Nothing is unwanted if you find the right person or place for it.” She picked up a stick and poked at the ashes in the cracked fireplace. Someone must have made a fire here a while ago. With leaves and small pieces of wood. Some kids, maybe…or…  
  
“No one wants garbage.” The albino turned his gaze back at the sofa. The wooden decorations had been ruined and the velvet was dirty and cut up. “It is a waste of time to even think about it.”  
  
“I just meant to say it's sad how things get abandoned like that.” She ran her hand over her temple. The medicine’s effect was not going to wear off any time soon. In fact she felt like her limbs got heavier with every passing minute. Helen looked over to the albino. His contours were starting to fade and blur.  
  
Ruvik looked back at the woman. Now that they were inside and had stopped walking she was beginning to look tired again. It was a wonder the female detective was still on her feet by now. Her eyes lingered on him. Was she waiting for a comment on her remark?   
He didn't answer her. Too long had he watched the furnishings in his own home collect dust and slowly rot away. How many carpets had been drenched in blood? How many vases and other small things smashed by the flailing limbs of struggling...subjects? It had taken a while before he had found his routine and he had never cared one bit.   
He had been alone anyway. There had been no need to take care of the house if no one was around to see it.  
  
“I mean…it **was** pretty at one time.”  
  
“But that was long ago.”  
  
“I know that. Things get ugly if you stop caring for them. Sofas, houses, fireplaces.” She brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and sighed faintly. “ Even people. It's just not fair is all I am saying. It's sad.”

She dropped the stick and walked past him, out of the room. This house was sad. The abandoned village was sad.   
The ruins of that mansion were sad.

 

Helen was sad.  
‘Being on your own doesn’t make you free…’ She shook her head at the thought of her words earlier.

'I am so tired of this...' She took a left and entered yet another room full of demolished furniture.   
  
Graffiti was smeared over the walls and some of the furnishing in screaming red color. She squinted at it and could barely make out what was written in tall letters.

****_WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE A GHOST?_  
                                                                             Blood   
                                                                                              sacrifice   
                                                                                                                             prayer  
  
  
“…The mind-reading wall has struck again, huh….”  
The redhead then stared at her own reflection in a tall, broken mirror that stood beside the door. It was the only thing uncovered in the whole room. Unfortunately, it was ruined just like everything else she’d seen until now. The cracks in the surface split her image into dozens of fractions, producing a plethora of doppelgangers that stared back at the female detective with dark, hollow eyes.   
“Just look at me...” She whispered to herself. “I am making an idiot out of myself...again.” Her fingertips wandered over the sharp lines and many more fingertips on the other side of the mirror repeated the gesture. “You're not a sofa, Helen. And you should know better than to chase ghosts in old houses. Especially at your age...”   
  
'But still...’ That warmth…that feeling of being safe and cared for….

That k—

“OUCH!” A sharp pain stung her fingertip. When she pulled back from the mirror a small drop of vermillion started to form on it.   
  
“Just perfect. Now all we need is a dead animal and some creepy voices chanting in the background.”   
She sighed and took a step back. With her hand tightly clenched into a fist she walked past a few cloth-covered objects and further into the back of the room. The floorboards under her feet creaked with every step she took. The pain in her leg was almost gone and had been replaced with a vague numbness. The sleepiness was trying to pull her into slumber’s embrace.  
  
Her way ended in front of a high towering object. The dirty linen cloth covering it was slightly blowing in the wind that came from the many broken windows in the house.   
With her free hand she grabbed onto the hardened fabric and tugged on it. A little bit at first, then stronger and finally hard enough to reveal what lay hidden underneath.   
  
The female detective stumbled back a bit from the force she had used. Her eyes were practically glued to the thing she had just found and her mouth formed a silent ‘o’.  
Slowly her fingers let go of the linen and the closed fist opened to reveal her still bleeding finger.  
  
**_WOULD YOU LIKE_**  
  
“You know…I was joking with the voices before…”  
Helen put her hand on the dusty cabinet’s glass door. She wiped away some of the dirt and left a smeared path of red on the surface. Just like in the mirror before, dozens of pairs of eyes stared at the redhead from behind the glass.

 

  
***********************************************************************

 

_Even people._ _It's just not fair is all I am saying. It's sad._

‘What do you even know…’  He stared at the rugged sofa. ‘Ugly…’  
“They locked me away because they couldn’t bear to look at me.”   
Yes, his parents. The world. And even he, himself.  
A lost childhood behind the walls of his home. A prison full of broken mirrors; even after he thought he had freed himself from their grasp.   
And only one thing to cling to, only one thing to motivate him and keep him going.  
The debt. Fear.   
He brushed over the green velvet. The fabric was dirty and moist. It felt like it left a thin film of wet sordidness on his fingers.   
“People leave things because they think of them as ugly.” Ruvik looked at his palm. There was nothing to see but he could still feel it. It was there.

“They tried to forget me, get rid of me… but I still exist.”  
  
The ones who had denied his existence had gotten what they deserved.   
The ones who had burned his flesh, too.

And the ones that had used and killed him…

‘I will find them. And make them pay.’

The albino moved his fingers. The pale digits obediently conformed to his every thought. Smooth skin and intact nerves and muscles reacted without delay.   
He would find them. Get the revenge, the justice, he wanted.

Just like he had turned in his disfigured shell in exchange for this new, healthy body.  
  
He would live the life he wanted to live.

And…

**********************************************************************

 

Feathers and fur. Claws and paws and wings. Beaks and snouts. Motionless. Frozen in time, caught. Forever.  
‘Or at least until they fall apart…’ Helen stifled a yawn. Her eyes were heavy lidded and her head was getting lighter and lighter still.

**_WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE A GHOST_ **

The words on the wall behind her kept echoing in her mind. The reason she had come here.  
Who could have known the walls had figured out her secret wish? She smiled and rested her head against the glass.   
A wish and a deep longing she couldn’t even explain to herself.  
There was nothing she knew about the man in the robe. Aside from the fact that he seemed to be her hero, mysterious and strangely beautiful.  
“And maybe not even real…”  
 The redhead closed her eyes, shutting out the dead animals in front of her and inviting in the memories of her dream.   
White eyes in the darkness. Just the hint of a smile. Open arms and endless warmth.   
The soothing feeling of another being enveloping her in the deepest embrace.   
Helen remembered nuzzling her face into the nape of his neck, feeling the texture of his rough skin and the fabric of his clothes. How she had pressed herself closer against him because he was warmth, he was safety, he was…

The young woman had sunken to her knees. Her eyes where still closed, her cheeks a soft pink. The female detective’s body leaned against the glass cabinet and her hands had left a small trail in the coat of dust on it.   
“I don’t know what prayer you want to hear…I just want to feel this again!”  
She whispered against the glass, sending warm breath against it and fogging it up with every word she spoke quietly.   
“I don’t know who you are or what you are. Is it too much to ask for this? Just one more time. I want to see you one more time. To make sure…to make sure…”

She slowly slid down on her side as sleep overcame her.   
  
**************************************************************************

He heard the faint noise when he walked past the room and decided to investigate its source.

Ignoring the mirror had become a habit. After just a few steps he saw the stuffed birds and critters, the path in the dust, the blood smeared on the glass.

And the sleeping form of his partner on the floor in front of it all.

“Helen.”  Within a second he was at her side and knelt down. “She fell asleep…” As carefully as he could he rolled her on her back to get a look at her face. The redhead was slumbering peacefully on the linen amidst the ghostly scenery. Ruvik paused and watched her. Took in the sight of every strand of hair, her skin, lashes, the way her chest rose and sank with every breath that filled her lungs, the curve of her lips.   
He only realized how close he had gotten to her when he felt her breath on his face. Giving in now would be so easy. Only a few millimeters separated their lips.   
  
‘She won’t wake up.’

He inhaled the scent of her skin. Sweet. Faint. So hard to grasp yet so delicate. There was no reason to get so fond of this woman and still he found himself to think of her, to want her near.

_I needed some time alone…_

There was no reason.  
_  
Of course I came back!_

No reason at all…

_I… felt like a ghost._

‘I want her to be mine…’ His lips brushed over her cheek. ‘She needs to be mine.’  
He shifted in his position and reached for her hand. When their fingers touched he suddenly stopped dead in his tracks.  Ruvik’s eyes widened and he looked at what he had just touched.

The bandages. Memento of a life in pain and solitude…the last reminder of what he had once been.

The albino sat up and looked into the glass of the cabinet beside them. Purple eyes, pale skin and white hair. The face of a young man looked back at him. Leslie’s face looked back at him.  
Ruben watched the reflection. And for the first time since he had taken over this body, he felt a lump in his throat.

‘If she knew…’

Ugly.

The reflection frowned at him. The surprised expression had changed into one of anger.   
  
‘She wouldn’t want you. If anything, she’d want…Leslie.’

His eyes turned back to the female detective who was still sleeping.   
“This body belongs to me now, this is me.” He leaned down to her face again, ready to touch her soft lips and to entwine his fingers with hers.  
It had felt good before- why did it feel wrong now?  
  
  
 Why did it feel like giving her to someone else?

 

 

*********************************************************************************

Helen woke up with a groan. Her back hurt. Her head hurt….and worst of all- her leg was hurting again now, too.

She slowly sat up and felt every bone in her body while doing so.  
“Ugh, I am too young to feel this old…huh, what’s this?”  
Green velvet under her fingers. How had she gotten on the sofa?

“You’re awake.”

The voice had come from the other side of the room. Leslie was leaning against the wall and glanced through the boards that covered part of the window.

“I think we’ve wasted enough time here. Can you walk?” His eyes didn’t leave the window.  
  
“Uhm, yeah, let me see…” The redhead pushed herself up from the sodden upholstery and realized that she had been covered with one of the less dirty linen blankets. Had the fairy prince carried her into this room?   
‘I hope it was him- wouldn’t want to have slept if it has been Mr. Right aka unnamed-white-robe-wearing-wet-dream-inducing-life-saver….who did not care to show up in my dreams this time…bummer.’ She stumbled a few steps forward and suppressed a hiss when the pain in her thigh greeted her in return. “Yep, yep, I am fine like sunshine…”   
Her white haired partner seemed less than amused and she had an inkling why…

“So…how long have I been out? Thanks for the tugging in by the way…”

“Can’t you tell?” He nodded his head at the window and she walked over to look outside. It had gotten darker, the sun was almost setting and the rain was only adding to the somber atmosphere.  
  
“Oh shit…I am sorry…I—“

“What’s done is done. We should leave now.” He walked past her and headed towards the exit with big steps.

“Hey, wait up! I am not too fast right now, you know?”

He ignored her and kept walking- if Helen didn’t know any better, she would’ve sworn he even started to walk a little faster than before. Struggling to keep up, she finally reached him when they had already gotten out the front gate and halfway down the hill. Her leg was practically burning.

“Listen, I know you’re pissed because I fell asleep—“She tried to grab his arm for balance but was violently shaken off.

“DON’T…touch me…” The look on his face was a mixture of anger, panic, surprise- was he freaking out like back in the nightclub?   
‘No, there aren’t a lot of people here…he’s definitely pissed. Good job ,Helen, and that after he had finally started being more open…’  
“Leslie…”

“Zip it. I don’t want to hear anything. You need to go home. Now.” That name. From her mouth.   
  
She had grabbed the wrong arm. Called the wrong name.  
And he couldn’t tell her why.

“I am sorry…”

They stood in the fading light of the sunset and said nothing.

Silence hung between the two. Heavy with unspoken words.   
  
Neither of them moved.  
Both of them, full of regret and disappointment.

Leaving the situation and ending the day seemed like admitting defeat.  
Helen risked a look at the dark silhouette on top of the hill.  
  
She hadn’t seen the ghost again.  
Maybe there had never been one to begin with…  
  
‘What did you expect, Helen?’ She shook her head and turned back to Leslie.  
‘I guess it’s time to accept that it was just a dream after all…all of it.’  
“Time to call it a day…”   
‘Although I still wish there was something to keep me from going ‘ _home_ ’…’

He simply nodded and they both started to walk.    
  
  
  
And as if some higher powers had decided to honor the female detectives wish….

 

…suddenly…

 

…a phone rang.


	16. Chapter 15: Underneath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ++++ Wow...it's been...months. I am so sorry :( Really. People who know me might have noticed that I havent been online as much during the time from uploading Chpt14 to...now. A few reasons might add up to: not having a home (which will change in february, hopefully), cutting ties with family members, shouldering lots of work irl and having a really bad relapse in my eating disorder matched with a seriously badly timed hit of winterdepression. Yummy. Lots of excuses, you see. Not being able to write has been gnawing at me daily. And I want to thank a few people SO MUCH who kept me company through all this by saying they care, writing nice comments, trying to motivate me or by simply being there and not leaving although I am such a useless bum! I won't share names here but just know that if you are reading this and you might think 'Does she mean me? Naw...she cant mean me, I havent done much/havent talked/commented/whatever she simply cant mean me!" Then stand corrected. You are here. You are reading this. You took the time to notice and that is all I needed. I DO mean you. Thank you so much!  
> *cough* So, very clunkily written chapter...A fair bit of it was already done a few months ago and I am trying to get back into the flow, so please excuse the mistakes and the strange formulation in ...well long parts of it- I am trying to get back into it! Again, thank you so much for all your support!++++

_Melvin Gardner cursed and smacked the flickering heavy duty flashlight against the tunnels moist walls._  
_The batteries wouldn’t last much longer and his patience was about to reach its limits as well._  
_Twenty minutes ago he had sent Henllan to get another set of flashlights from the truck and still there was no sign of his companion coming back._  
_He pulled out the small two-way radio receiver and pushed the button to activate transmission._  
_“Henllan, I am waiting. You on your way back or what?”_  
_He let go of the button and waited a few seconds. No answer._  
_“…just what I thought, asshole.”_  
  
_The man turned on the small headlamp and clicked his tongue. If only he hadn’t agreed to waiting for Henllan to come back._  
_The toothy smile of his coworker had convinced him to agree to many idiotic ideas before but this one was definitely taking the cake. Henllan had grinned and joked about Gardner sitting in the dark and wrestling alligators before he had left. The bulky sewage worker was handsome and good with words…and ladies, of course._  
_Melvin took a few steps forward. This was the direction Henllan had taken earlier._  
_Another try on the radio: “Henllan, you there?”_

 _Yes, sure, Henllan had gotten less and less reliable the past few weeks but he was still doing a good job for the most part. To leave him hanging down here, with dying batteries and a tiny headlight in the maze of Krimson City’s widely ramified underground system was worth a few serious words._  
_Gardner was still relatively new on this job. Being able to trust his partners words was essential down here._  
_“For fucks sake Henllan…”_  
_He would come back. He simply had to. Gardner tried to reassure himself while he couldn’t help but notice the flashlights circle of light becoming dimmer and dimmer._  
_The damp air was already creeping into his working clothes. He was thinner than Henllan, less handsome and definitely not as muscle-packed. It was time to leave before his bones would start to riot against the wet coldness in the sewers._  
_They only had to check one, maybe two other floodgates before they could call it a day. Gardner looked over his shoulder and back to the dividing tunnels they had planned to enter shortly before._  
_Only two more gates…_  
_He could check them out real quick and be back to catch Henllan sneaking in a smoke break before the ladies’ man had the chance to pretend he couldn’t find the spare light._  
_“Crud, to hell with this job…” The young man started walking. He already knew the gates would be okay. The ongoing rain of the past weeks had poured through every nook and cranny, getting rid of the usual excess waste and clogged up passages more efficiently than the sewage workers could ever wish to be._  
_And still the buildings in this area had reported problems with the pipes and culverts lately…_  
_He passed the corner and blinked a few times._  
_…something had to be causing the malfunction…_  
_A dim light poured out of small slits in the wall in front of him._  
_….something unusual…_  
_Gardner wasn’t as surprised about the light as he was about the wall._  
_…something that hindered the water masses of passing through…_  
  
_The wall that simply shouldn’t have been there._  
_His fingers found the send button of the walkie-talkie within half a second._  
_“Henllan…I am serious, are you there? There’s…there’s something strange here. You need to see this, so move you’re a—“_  
_The words were cut off when Gardner heard a sound behind him. He dared not to turn around as he knew immediately that these sounds did not belong to the one person he was waiting for. He listened. And stared at the surface in front of him. The cracks in the wall and the specks of dirt on his thick rubber gloves stood out in sharp detail. His eyes were completely focused on it. He didn’t blink. Did not swallow._  
_Whatever it was…it was coming closer._

_“That’s not Henllan. And I KNOW there are no alligators in the sewers… but this…”_

_It sounded like…breathing._

********************************************************************

 

“I told you to go home.”  
“I know, I know…uh, just…I should at least come and see if I can be of any help to you guys.”  
“And what kind of help would that be? You can barely walk like this.”

He was right and she knew it. Going home would have been the logical thing to do.  
‘But I am not that type of person, am I?’ She tried to keep up with the albino while she tried to figure out the least painful way to take steps large enough to stick to his pace. Besides, this was the best excuse she had for tagging along. And delaying the unavoidable realization that whatever…or better _whoever_ she would dream about tonight would be just that. A dream.  
  
“So, what exactly did he say? Something about the police building?”  
“Changing the subject won’t help you.”  
“Ignoring my question won’t help _you_ either.” ‘I am not going to leave, so go ahead and spill the beans already , frosty….’  Helen was getting impatient. She wanted to know what the phone call between Leslie and Sebastian had been about. The young man had kept his answers short so she didn’t have much to go with.  
  
Something had come up. At the KCPDs main building.  
  
Was it related to the case? No. If it had been the albino would have replied with more interest. Instead his face had taken on a rather displeased expression while the conversation took place.  
Whatever Sebastian had said to him must have been about something unexpected, something _unrelated._

‘My deductive skills tell me you’re hiding something from me, you magical, mythical creature…’  
She stared at the back of his head as if willpower alone would make the white haired man speak.  
  
“Did the office end up flooded?”  
  
“No.”

“Did Larry finally start his own romance novel series? And he wants you two as his beta readers?”  
  
_“No.”_

“Did we get another present from Mr. “Look-at-me-I-am-so-rich-I’ll-buy-the-moon”? Did he send me flowers again?”  
  
**_“No.”_**  
  
That last one had struck a chord. He knew she was simply trying to make him talk but it still irked him. The man who had apparently tricked them after that night and the masquerade. The female detective still hadn’t told anyone what had happened while she’d been alone with the handsome ‘gentleman’.  
Ruvik didn’t know what the both of them had done alone in that room.

And it made him furious.  
Furious?  
He looked up ahead and saw the KCPD just across the street. She had successfully followed him all the way back. Not bad for someone with that deep a cut on their leg, he had to admit.

 

 Sebastian was standing outside, talking to two other men with headlamps and in working clothes.  
Sewage workers. He stopped and turned around, almost bumping into the limping woman behind him. If the older Detective saw Ruvik together with her…

“Go home, Helen.”

“..no.” She tried to keep a stern expression, then gave an unsure smile. “I am part of this team, aren’t I? We’re partners, you know…in this together and all that stuff. Thick and thin… ” her voice trailed off when he didn’t answer.  
‘So stubborn.’  Ruvik kept silent. She was so close. Close enough to reach her with his outstretched hand. Close enough to tear her apart. Strange. The way she irritated him. A tingling feeling in the back of his spine.  
He couldn’t decide what it was that he wanted to do.  
Shove her away as far as he could so he wouldn’t be reminded of her existence.  
 Or simply hold her. And never let go of her again.  
  
‘Never…not with these hands.’ He thought. She was still looking at him, head cocked to the side, eyes a dark brown, almost black now after the sun had set. Three were only faint trails of rose and purple, crimson and violet left in the skies. Silent bruises, partly hidden and shrouded in the web of thick clouds over Krimson City’s rooftops. He saw their reflection in the female detectives dark orbs. Ruvik’s gaze wandered over her figure and down to her leg. The feeling of her soft skin when he changed the bandages was still lingering on his fingertips.  
How long until it would be fully healed? Ill thinking made him wish for more bruises. More time to mend the redheads wounds.  
“Helen…”  
Helen craned her neck to look over his shoulder. “Sebastian, hey!” The redhead waved at the Detective. He had noticed the two and was already coming over.

“Didn’t I tell you to stay at home?” Sebastian gave the redhead a slightly annoyed look but then changed his disgruntled tone to a slightly lighter one. “You’re supposed to recover. Don’t strain yourself too much, okay?”  
  
“Uh, I am all fine and dandy, don’t worry. About that phone call….”

“Nothing you need to worry about. I already told you we’ll keep you updated if anything happens.” He turned to the young man at her side “We are going down there. I’ve already talked to them, shouldn’t take too long. One of them will come with us to show the way. Not that we’d need their help…” He paused for a split second, “If I remember correctly, it’s one of your favorite places, isn’t it?”  
Ruvik glared at the brown haired man. He had spent long enough in basements and sewers…but not because he was particularly fond of them. Of course the detective knew about that.  
Enough people would know- everyone connected to STEM had been able to experience at least parts of his life and thinking first hand.  
Less than a handful could report on that. Sebastian was one of them and although the heavy smoker was his only way of getting more info on Mobius… Ruvik would give, or DO, whatever it would take to get rid of this circumstance.  
  
“It wouldn’t be your first time either. I don’t mind watching you wade through it once again if that’s all we have to do to get this over with.”  
  
“Wait up, wait up, wait up…” Helen interrupted the guys little staring contest. “’Down there’? ‘Wade through’? I know you didn’t want to tell me but…I can put two and two together.” She paused and they both looked at her, waiting.

“We are going into the sewers, aren’t we?”

“First off, **we”** , Sebastian pointed at Ruvik and himself as he said this, **”** are going down there. **You** are going home, where you belong. Secondly, it has nothing to do with the case, just something that came up and needs to be checked out. No one else is up for it, so we’ll go in, look at whatever these idiots want us to look at and then leave.”

“Something.” Leslie looked at the detective. “A rather vague reason to justify going down there and subject yourself to the broad range of infection and disease the sewers have to offer.”

“Disease?” The question came from Helen. The woman looked mildly disgusted by the mention of the sewers already. Explaining the risks of entering the underground system in detail would be enough to send her running home.  
Perfect.  
Ruvik took a second to think about where to start off but that was already too much time.  
  
A deep tenor voice sounded from the side of them and had all three turned their heads to see the one talking.  
“Oh, you know, just the usual stuff that gets transferred via rats piss and hand-to-mouth infection. Gastroenteritis, Weil’s disease, the flu, hepatitis and so on. But that’s not all: you can easily get lost and starve to death or slip and break your neck, too, Miss.”  
One of the sewage workers had come over and joined the trio.  
“Name’s Mike. Nice to meet you.” He looked about as old as the two younger members of the team and had a big smile on his face when Helen shook his hand after a moment of hesitation.  
Her small palm almost disappeared in his big fist. “Jr. Detective Helen Saul. Yeah, nice to meet you too. So, you’d say it’s … _dangerous_ to go down there?”  
An idea had blossomed in the redheads mind.  
“Not if you know how to handle yourself down there. Or if you’re with me.” He blinked at her. Even an idiot would have realized immediately that the broad-shouldered, muscle packed worker **seemed** to have taken an interest in the female detective.  
Helen didn’t.  Her thoughts were already running at high speed in one single direction and her eyes were fixed on the open manhole across the street and in front of the KCPDs steps.

Two times her life had been in serious danger lately.

Two times she had thought she’d be taking her last breath.

Two times the man in the white robe had appeared.

If exposing herself to danger and entering a place like that would do the trick…  
Then Helen was more than willing to do exactly that.

“I’ve already talked to your friend over there…” Mike nodded his head at Sebastian and continued, “ Thing is, we’ve been down there, my partner Mel and I, and I went to fetch some lights while he waited for me. Just a few minutes, two or three. Well long story short- I came back and bam- no Mel. Instead I only found his walkie- talkie, the dying flashlight and…how do I explain this…he was simply gone.” He scratched his chin and thought for a second. “Some crazy shit has been going on down there lately…I just can’t go before I know he is alright.”

“Crazy shit?” Castellanos inquired. A missing person in the sewers didn’t sound too interesting. ‘Crazy shit’ on the other hand, added a bit of spice to the whole thing. Either the big guy in front of him was getting panicked by his friend missing or there was really something going on down there.

“Noises. Strange stuff like coughing or choking…one of the workers said he had seen something…or maybe he said he thought he had seen something. I’m not sure…”

A toneless deep exhale to his left caught Seb’s attention. “You think it’s nothing?”. He asked the albino who had expressed his discontent this way.  
  
“Irrelevant. We will go down there no matter what or if there is something. I’d rather we make it quick and get it over with, if only to _help Mike find his little friend_.”  
  
“Alright, let’s go then.” The redhead tucked her arm into Mike’s and started walking towards the gaping manhole across the street. “Lead the way, chief~”

“You’re not going anywhere with that leg of yours—“  
  
“That leg of mine is completely alright.” The detective stomped her feet twice on the ground without looking back. “You’ll need enough people to be able to split up in teams and search a larger area…unless you want to spend the whole night underground.” She tugged on the sewage workers arm a little to get him to walk again. “Don’t mind the ol’ man and Mister frosty over there…they’re making a mountain out of a molehill, really.” She whispered and winked at him. The smile was forced, but good enough to make the two heads taller man move.  
“Just….walk slowly, ok?”  
Those stomps had been too much actually. Good thing it was pretty dark out already, or else he would have probably noticed the tears she had to bite back right now.  
‘When have I become so desperate?’ Inside the manhole waited nothing but darkness. She tried to make out something in the nothingness. ‘Warmth, safety…how far will one go to feel secure and to belong somewhere just once?’ Cold air crawled out of the pitch black abyss and crept up her ankles.  
Coldness and darkness…things that had accompanied her so many times.  
Helen swallowed. All things considered, she had nothing- absolutely nothing- to lose.  
“I am going in first.”  
“You sure?” Mike handed her a flashlight and helped her reach the first metal-bar-like step.  
“Yep. Not gonna risk you guys looking up my skirt.”, she said, jokingly.  
‘If there is only one person in this whole world that makes me feel like this…just one…’

“Then I will find them and make sure if it’s possible.”  
  
“If what is possible?”  
  
“Uh…” Helen was already halfway down the steps when the question tore her out of her thoughts. “Nothing, nothing…WE’LL FIND YOUR FRIEND, DON’T WORRY!”  
  
She reached the bottom and waited for the others. It had been fairly easy to shut them up to convince the other two to let her join on in this little adventure. Maybe too easy? ‘Nah, I bet I’ll still get my lecture…later.’ Helen shivered a little. If the air over ground was already chilly- then this was officially freezing. Her hands fumbled with the flashlight for a second. A rather loud clicking sound awakened the light beam of the heavy duty hand torch. She shone the light to her left, where a light breeze seemed to come from.  
‘Endless tunnels…’  
The torch’s beam swiftly moved to the opposite side.  
‘More endless tunnels.’ Helen sighed. ‘Correction. This is not a little adventure. It’s gonna be lame.’  
“I see you’re already getting a first look at my kingdom.”  
“Yep, very…straightforward up until now…”  
Mike chuckled and jumped from the stepladder. “Just wait a little- this tunnel system is older than both you and me together. It’s branching out in all directions and even has a portion of an old aqueduct’s remains in it. A real labyrinth to get lost in if you don’t know your way around here one hundred percent.”  
“Ah, and you know your way around here one hundred percent?”  
“One hundred and ten, milady.”  
The female detective gave half a smile and half a laugh, then they waited for the rest of the search team in silence. She could feel his eyes on her but didn’t think too much of it. Hopefully the big guy wouldn’t try to play the gentleman. She wanted to manage on her own for two reasons. The first one was to keep Seb and Leslie from scolding her for coming down here despite her leg. The second was…well…dangerous or not, Helen had a feeling that the man in the robe wouldn’t appear if she was constantly being babied by the men around her.  
   
Sebastian was second to last to get down. Sewers, tunnels and elevators weren’t included in his top ten places to visit anymore. If they had ever been. The living, walking reason for that was still up there and had rummaged through the sewage worker’s truck when Seb had entered the manhole half a minute ago. He looked up to see the albino already coming down the steps as well.  
“Home sweet home, huh?” Ruvik was unsure if the words had come from the depths of his own mind or if the older detective spoke them when his feet hit the solid cement of the tunnel grounds.  
  
“All ready? Mel and I had been checking the valves and floodgates a few hundred meters down that tunnel.” Mike pointed into the dark corridor. “Shouldn’t take longer than three minutes to get there.”

“And this will only take a minute.” The rasping noise made everyone turn their heads at Leslie. The roll of duct tape in his hands reflected the light of Mike’s headlamp.  
  
“What are you—“ Helen already saw herself tied and taped to the tunnel walls when the white haired young man walked towards her.  
"Shut up and hold still.” He knelt down in front of her and blindly reached under the redhead’s skirt.  
“HEY, WAIT!” She tried to stagger away but was met with the wall behind her. Helens dark eyes raced from the albino to the other two men and back. The embarrassment faded immediately when she felt the duct tape on her thigh. Leslie applied a layer of the tape on her bandages and her leg, overlapping the fabric and closing any possible opening or way something could enter the cloth or- worse- the freshly stitched wound.  
He moved quickly. But the warmth of his fingertips still lingered on her leg when he had already stood back up and spoke. “There. Since you insist on putting yourself in danger. Again.”  
  
“Ah…I…”

“I borrowed this.” The albino threw the roll of duct tape at Mike. The man caught it with ease. He didn’t say anything and just nodded at him with a crooked smile.  
  
‘That’s what he got from the truck outside…’  
Sebastian had a hard time not staring at the two younger members of his team. Yeah…they had shown up together…  
‘What the hell is this about Ruben?’  
He didn’t like the taste of that. Obviously, there was no way to influence the man and keep him away from the young female detective. He had warned him once- but that hadn’t helped at all.

If anything, Sebastian had to open Helens eyes up to what lurked behind the innocent looks Ruvik had stolen so remorselessly to mask himself.

  
 He would talk to her.  
  
“I think we’re ready, Mike. Let’s go and find Mel.”


	17. Chapter 16: Separate Paths

Sebastian cursed under his breath. This was the second…no…maybe third time he had almost tipped over one of the countless little gaps in the tunnels uneven floor. He looked up at the wet walls and ceiling above his head with a frown. Mike had been positive that they would be at the spot he had last seen his coworker in in under ten minutes. Now it felt as if they had been walking for fifteen minutes straight and still the guy in the work overalls made no signs that the group was about to reach their destination.  
Every other minute a loud laugh was heard from him. For someone who had been so worried about his partner he really seemed to enjoy his time talking to the redheaded detective now.  
  
Saul was walking right next to him, talking to him- or rather listening to him talking and laughing about his own jokes and answering the heap loads of questions directed at her.  Just a few minutes earlier, Seb had shooed her away from her backlight position in the group. The young woman had been lagging behind a little too much for his tastes- but once he had fallen back to check up on her she had magically gained speed and caught up with the flirtatious sewage worker.  
Whatever it was that kept her going and that had inspired her rebellious attitude tonight- Seb hoped none of it had to do with Ruvik.   
  
Speaking of which…  
Sebastian turned his gaze to the albino in front of him. Ruvik had been quiet ever since they had started walking. For some reason the unscrupulous man had felt the need to help Helen. And his efforts hadn’t gone unnoticed by the older Detective.  
The way he had used his medical knowledge to treat Helen’s wounds in the morgue and the tone in his voice when he told her to leave and rest where…untypical for the man, to say the least.  
Ruvik had a habit of asserting dominance over other people he interacted with, but his chiding tone when talking to the female detective this evening had been different.  
  
The only explanation Sebastian could come up with for his behavior was that the man had plans with her. She had helped them. Virtually dragged the albino out of a burning house and risked her life to get something he had lost in it. So maybe he had decided that the woman would be useful enough to keep around?  
Seb sighed and felt for the crumpled pack of cigarettes in his coat pocket. Smoking was not allowed down here, but oh, what would he give to be able to inhale at least some of the ‘slow death’ he simply couldn’t bring himself to give up on.  
  
  
A quick glance at his surroundings still gave no hints of their trip being over soon. Everything looked the same. Left, right, front and behind. They all would have to trust Mike if they didn’t want to end up running in circles. He was the only one down with them who could safely lead them in and out of this place….apart from Victorianos, maybe.  
  
He focused at the sewage worker again. If there had ever been a stereotypical sewage worker it would have to be Mike. Overalls, headlamp, huge gloves, huge ego.  
And huge muscles. The guys back alone looked as bulky and muscled as that of a bull. No matter how you put it, no amount of normal sport and gym-going could provide the human body with the pronounced definition showcased on this individual. Sebastian knew about it. He was taking care pretty well of his own body. Doing the job he did, he had to stay in shape. And he had no qualms to admit that he was pretty proud of his toned body.  
Mike though- he definitely had to be on some sort of steroids.

  
The detective was not the only one watching Mike. And Helen.  
Ruvik made sure to keep a steady pace that allowed him to listen in on the conversation between the two. Watching in silence had become a habit to the man that had lived his whole life in the shadows and hidden away from the world. Only this time, he felt something churn and eat away at his insides as he saw the female detective focus her attention on the tall man at her side.   
He didn’t like it even if he wasn’t sure why.  
And then, there was something else, tugging at his senses. This though, he could pinpoint exactly.  
The reason he had become more and more interested in their search the longer they walked.  
  
He shifted his eyes to the roof of the tunnel, the walls, the pipes that ran along the corridors and the markings on them. Mike was not the only one that knew this place.  
Ruvik looked back at the sewage worker and a bitter smile formed on his lips.

 

“And you work down here every day?” the redhead asked the grinning man walking alongside her. Helen looked straight forward. She had already gotten tired of Mikes toothy grin a few minutes ago. The guy was full of himself in a way that seemed to be all too common among the guys she had met in crimson city. Talk a lot, loudly. About yourself and all the things that are so unbelievably great about you. She wasn’t really interested in what he had to say but there was a reason she talked to him. Or rather, there were two reasons.  
One was pretty much right behind them, probably staring daggers at her for not listening to his advice. The other was a little further behind them, effectively ruining her chances to sneak away and possibly create a scenario that would allow her to meet her ‘guardian angel’ again.  
  
‘Well, who am I kidding? It’s not like I can simply get lost in here and expect ‘Mr.-White-Robe’ to show up like on demand.’  
  
Helen felt a mighty need to zone out and fantasize about those stunning silver eyes and warm lips but reminded herself to stay focused on Mike’s sewer-wisdom.  
  
“In the sewers? Of course, that’s my job! Got an idea how many pipes, pumps, vaults and valves there are down here that need regular checkups in these tunnels? Not to mention the other tunnels…you are lucky we aren’t in THAT system…”  
  
“That…system?” she gave him a puzzled look.  
  
“Yep.” Another toothy grin. “The tunnels we are walking in right now belong to the relatively new sewage system. They are connected to a much older tunnel system though. Underneath the city is a whole different world than above. Caves and shit. I bet more than half of it hasn’t even been explored yet. You can reach it from different places in the old aqueduct portion of the sewage system. Must have been here before the Krimson itself. Kinda creepy if you ask me. No place for a princess.” He winked at her.  
  
“Sure.”  
  
“The town should put more money towards this stuff…but you know how things are. Politicians, stuffing their pockets with our tax money, making promises they never keep. Just like that idiot Senator they keep elected. He has no interest in this town at all. And that although his family is said to live here…”  
  
“Ah well…” a nervous laugh escaped Helens throat. “I am not into politics…so…”  
  
“You should! You can change a lot by keeping the idiots from the steering wheel!”  
  
“I was trying to change a lot by choosing the job I am in now.” The redhead narrowed her eyebrows. Yes, she had become a detective because she wanted things to change, right? Find a purpose in life and do something good with it. Was there a better way to do both?  
  
“So, detective…”  
  
“Mh…?” After correcting Mike a few times whenever he had called her Princess instead of Detective she had given up. Now that he was finally addressing her by the title Helen had almost failed to realize Mike was talking to her.  
  
“Got any plans for the night?”  
  
“After we find Mel?” ‘Sure, I got a date with a sexy imaginary guy…’  
  
“Ah, yeah…” Mike inhaled sharply, “I hope we’ll find him. Bet he’s scared shitless somewhere down here…”  
  
‘You didn’t sound too concerned ever since we climbed down that ladder, dude…’  
“Anyways, are we close to where Mel disappeared? I think it’s been a while now since we started walking…”  
  
“Sure thing, just—“, Mike hesitated a second while he looked ahead of them, “— yep, shouldn’t be much longer. Behind that gate over there and a little ways around the corner is where he vanished. Few minutes max and we’re there.” He pointed at a gate made of iron bars that was wide open. The bars stretched over the whole tunnel. Should something big be flooded down the drain with the rain water it would definitely get stuck on them.

“Good.” Leslie threw in. “Then it shouldn’t take much longer to get this puzzle solved.” He walked a little closer to them, his eyes transfixed on the open gate.  
  
“Yeah man, I just hope nothing happened to Mel. Would be great if he just reappeared and we could go home after I gave him a tough speech on getting lost down here….”  
  
“Yes…” The albino was the first to pass the gate. He had brushed past the young woman, making her take a step back. ‘We will see about that.’  
He stood on the other side, waiting for Mike to pass it as well.  
  
Then. As if on cue…

  
Darkness. As well as a loud creaking and a metallic bang followed by a clicking noise.

 

“What the hell?!”  
“Everyone don’t move!” Sebastian shouted through the dark. None of the flashlights worked. Same for the sewage workers headlamp.  
All of them had flickered and went out at the exact same time.   
  
“Wha- AH! SOMETHING’S TOUCHING ME!”   
“Stop hitting me, Saul!”  
“Oh, Sebastian…I- I am sorry….” Helen blushed a little. Luckily, no one could see her embarrassed expression. “Leslie…?”  
  
“I am here.”   
  
“Where is here…What is that?” Helen had walked two steps towards the voice when something stopped her from going any further. Her outstretched hands touched something cold.  The gates iron bars.   
“I think the door closed?” She felt for the handle but couldn’t find one. Helen pushed against the door. “The door is shut?!”  
  
“It’s locked? Open the door, Mike!” Castellanos demanded.  
  
“Eh, I would if I could, pal.”, came the answer from the other side. “You need a key to open these…and I don’t have one with me….”  
  
Sebastian rubbed his temple. “Fine. So now what? We are sitting in the dark…separated too.”  
  
Helen was still clicking the flashlight button from off to on and back. “How come the all died? All of them?”  
  
“Actually, I do know a way around this. And I have some spare glow sticks with me so…”  
Mike fumbled for a second and a moment later the tunnel was illuminated by an eerie green light.   
“Here, have some too. You should stay here until we come back to get you.” He handed a few of the translucent sticks to Helen, who was closest to the iron bars that stood between them.  
She took them and then looked at Leslie.   
The young man stood close to the wall next to the closed door. He had exchanged a quick look with the older detective once the glow stick had lit up the area. The question in Castellanos eyes had been silent but undoubtfully there.  
  
‘What the hell did you just do?’

Ruvik had known that Sebastian would notice. Just one more reason he had decided to work with him once the deaths had started occurring. The detective wasn’t stupid. He gave the man the faintest nod.

“We will wait here, then. Just hurry up, okay?” Sebastian leaned against the iron bars. It would take a long time until he would get to smoke a cigarette tonight. Whatever Victorianos was up to, Seb would have to wait and see.   
  
“Alright, off we go, buddy.”   
With Mike’s words Ruvik turned away from the gate when he suddenly felt a hand on his arm.  
It was Helen. The redhead looked worried. “Be careful, okay?” She found his hand and gave it a light squeeze.  
There it was again. He did not want to look at her but he had to. And he did not want to return the small gesture but…  
Just the faintest touch.   
  
‘Don’t touch me.’  
  
That was what he had said. And yet he craved it so badly.  
  
“We’ll be careful, princess, don’t you worry. I will bring your friend back safe and sound.” Mike waved for the albino to come with him and Ruvik turned away from the gate for good, leaving the two detectives on the other side to themselves.  
  
  
  
Helen watched the men walk away. The green light was dim and it didn’t take long until she lost sight of them. “I hope they’ll be okay…”

“They will …”   
‘They better be…’ Sebastian had a hard time trusting the albino. All he could see when looking into the young man’s pale face was that of another person. He still saw the white eyes, the scars. The true identity of ‘Leslie Withers’ had to be kept a secret. Only he and Ruvik…and Mobius knew what was lurking behind the façade. Saul was on their team now and it seemed the former serial killer did not intend for her to find out about his true self either. Sebastian eyed her carefully. She had gotten attached to the boy in a way. It was painfully obvious. Only the boy was not a boy. And Sebastian wasn’t too sure if he was still convinced it was better for her not to know who they were both working with. “You’ve been out with Withers today?”  
  
“He met up with me to check on my leg. And my hand.„  Helen turned to lean her back at the gate. She played with the glow sticks in her hand, contemplating if activating one of them would be a good idea.  
  
“I see.” He coughed a little and thought of what to say next. “Anything else worth mentioning?”  
  
“No…”  
  
They both went silent for a minute. Sebastian was still unsure what to make of her and Ruvik meeting each other. The way he took care of her and the way she seemed to get accustomed to him.   
“You shouldn’t get too close to Withers. He isn’t what you may be thinking he is.”  
  
“What do you mean?” He could almost see her face by the tone of her voice.   
  
“He is…”  
  
“He is weird. I know. But he is a good guy. I guess…”  
  
‘No. Anything but a good guy.’  
  
“Sometimes I feel like he hates everyone and everything. And then he does the sweetest things. He keeps going back and forth from asshole to good guy and back. Yes…I think you could say that. Must be because of the things he went through…”  
  
“What did he say he went through?” ‘Sweetest things? What the hell has happened when I wasn’t around?’ Castellanos wanted to shake his head. The lecture he had given to Ruvik might have had the opposite effect he had wished it to have. Maybe the cold blooded killer had focused his attention on the girl to spite him. If anything was true about the psychopath he had to deal with- then it was the fact that he disliked being told what to do or not do with a passion.  
  
“Nothing, really. I just thought something must have happened. Or maybe it has to do with the fire. He seemed pretty shaken. I mean, more than you’d expect someone like him to be.”  
  
“Ah.”  
  
“Ah?”  
  
“Nevermind.”  
  
He didn’t see it but he heard her turn to face him. She was still silent when he made himself ready for whatever she was going to say next. Something big was coming, he simply knew it.

“Nevermind? Are you kidding me? First, you asked me to help you investigate this drug murder case without telling me you have some sort of suspicion already. You show up with someone on the team who isn’t part of the police. He shouldn’t even be here- do you have any idea how much trouble we will be in once things get official? You keep me hanging on a string with the information you withhold. Heck, if it wasn’t for Leslie, I still wouldn’t have the slightest clue on what was going on and who we are after!” Helen was just starting to talk herself into a rage. Sebastian had promised her time and time again that he would fill in the blanks. And now he was making strange statements about the one guy on the team that let her in on what tiny bit of info she knew. Yes, Leslie was strange and he kept biting her away whenever she thought she had gained a minimum of his trust-   
but at least he was there.  
  
“I am not simply withholding information. I am keeping you safe, Helen! You want to know everything? I’ll gladly tell you about your albino friend. He is not as innocent as you think he is. And if what Kugel said is true- then neither are you.” Sebastian bit back.

The last sentence hit Helen like a brick wall.  
  
“I- what? What the hell has this to do with me? What did the Doctor say about me, huh?”  
  
“Nine people died, Helen. Two years ago. No one left the building alive but you.”  
  
“I….you think that is my fault?!”  
  
“I don’t think anything. I am just questioning how you managed to get out of there alive. And why you were sent on hiatus directly afterwards.”  
  
She huffed and he could sense how she wrecked her brain for an answer.  
  
“It’s….it’s not unusual to take a while off from work after something like that happens. My team died. Innocent people died right in front of me. I was in shock.”  
  
“That’s the point though…Kugel said they all died. As if downright executed. No struggle, no weird angles for the bullet holes. A clean shot to each and every single one. Explain that to me. What did you see?”  
  
Helen was silent for a moment. What she had seen…as if it was that easy.  
“No. I am not listening to this. You are trying to paint a picture of me and I really don’t like how it looks. I did nothing wrong that day. That’s all I am going to say. And now excuse me- I don’t fancy staying with someone who thinks I am murderer any second longer.” She fiddled with one of the glow sticks and managed to get it to illuminate. “You want me to go home? I will go home. Thanks for the work experience, Detective. Was nice the time it lasted. I quit. There. Have fun.” She handed him the remaining other sticks and started hobbling back the way they had come.   
  
‘Explain that to me, he says….I would love to if I actually knew what happened.’ Helen couldn’t think. Was she overreacting? Maybe. Had he been rude and awful and insulting on so many levels? Heck, yes!  
She was fed up with even trying to remember what had happened back then. Everything surrounding the events that led to those empty two years was a black mist. One moment she had been in the middle of everything happening. People shouting, gunshots, crying. Her team trying to talk sense into the aggressors.   
  
Then: nothing.   
  
She woke up in a hospital a day later. People outside the room were talking. Her father was there.  
On her bedside table a formal paper, including condolences and best wishes for her health.  
And an apology for the forced hiatus she was being sent on.  
  
Helen had no recollection of anything.  
  
But the way her father had looked at her that day….  
  
The redhead felt the heat rise up her cheeks and the tears well up in her eyes.   
‘No, Helen, no self-pity…please…’  
  
She looked up from the ground and stopped walking. Had they went left or right at this intersection?  
More importantly- had she went left or right on the last one?  
  
“Se….Sebastian?” Her voice was small and cracked a little. She cleared her throat and tried again, louder this time.

 “Sebastian…?”

 

  
  
  
“So, what is that about you and the redhead? Anything going on between you two?”  
  
Ruvik wasn’t answering the guys question. Mike had been talking enough earlier. It was time he took a turn in listening now.  
  
“I was wondering…”   
  
“Wondering what?”  
  
“How come someone who works in the towns sewerage everyday… leads us in the same loop of tunnels for a good ten minutes without noticing?”  
  
“Hah, who said that?” Mike changed his posture while they continued walking.  
  
“I noticed we went past the same corner a few times.”  
  
“Well, maybe you thought it looked the same. To the untrained eye, this place has no way of telling where you are. That’s why I am down here with you. To make sure you don’t get lost.”  
  
He was lying. His body language spoke of the tension that had built up in him the second Ruvik had revealed to know that they had gone in circles.  
  
“I know where I am. Just as you do. The only ones down here who would get lost are stuck at an iron gate a ways back.”  
Ruvik stopped walking. “Since you are clearly not in a hurry to find Mel…what is it that you really wanted us to come down here for?”  
  
He watched Mike’s back as he stopped dead in his tracks. The glow stick’s green light was eerily shining through big guys closed fist.  
  
“You know…” Mike slowly turned around. “…I think there IS something going on between you and the lady detective.” He dropped the glow stick and grinned at the albino. “I was thinking about keeping you for last.” He cracked his knuckles. “But you are right- there is something else you are down here for and the time is running, pal.”  
  
The sewage worker took a step towards the young man- who in turn took a step backwards, cautiously watching the other one.  
  
“THEY will be satisfied with you instead of Mel anyways …and I bet the girl is going to be devastated when she hears you got lost down here. She’ll need a shoulder to cry on. Guess I’ll kill two birds with one stone, eh?”  
  
He kicked the glow stick into the muddy sewage water and in an instant the light vanished completely, leaving both of them in the pitch black tunnels.   
“I hope you’re not afraid of the dark.”  
  
Mike chuckled to himself. He did not see the smile on the other ones lips, nor the thrill in his eyes.  



End file.
